Posted on 02/21/2014 7:05:10 AM PST by NKP_Vet
SOCHI, Russia — Ashley Wagner launched a withering attack on figure skating's hierarchy and the Winter Olympics judges on Thursday night after being pushed down to seventh in the ladies' individual competition.
The 22-year-old American fought back tears as she revealed her frustration and anger with the judging at the Iceberg Skating Palace and suggested that the two Russian skaters, gold medalist Adelina Sotnikova and fifth-place finisher Julia Lipnitskaia, had been given unfairly inflated scores.
"I feel gypped," said Wagner, who skated two programs without any falls and punched the air with delight at the end of her free skate.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.yahoo.com ...
I watched the skating and Carolina Kostner of Italy was awesome, perfect performance, Yuna Kim was flawless, absolutely no mistakes, then Sotnikova stumbles after one of her jumps and gets the Gold medal? Her performance was jerky and her musical selection was really awful, and i am not exagerating. Yuna Kim = Gold, Carolina Kosner = Silver, Sotnikova = bronze, that’s how its should have gone. No one should stumble and get Gold.
I watched it too.
Yuna had a small balance check - not as big as the russian’s.
Almost falling is not the same as actually falling.
She would have received a small deduction on her landing, and another one for the step she took out of it.
The judges agreed with you about the artistry of the Korean.
But the russian’s difficulty pushed her technical scores ahead.
This is very similar to the showdown between Lipinski and Kwan.
It seems every Olympics there is a front runner who plays it safe and gets usurped by a youngster who out jumps everyone.
Regardless if what you think of the #1 and #2 spot - as far as I can tell the loudest whining is coming from Ashley Wagner.
I think the Russian won because the games were in Russia.
I think anywhere else Kim would have won. Most reliable skating experts come down on the side of Kim. And the gap in the numbers for the Russian and Kim was ridiculous.
A number of years ago, it may have been two or three Winter Olympics, the international skating commission which regulates competition, changed the way they judge because favoritism had taken hold. Now it is much harder to insert.
I wish Carolina Kostner were an American that way we could still see her skate now that she is retiring from competition.
I’m sure she will join the ice tours - alot of money to be made!
It was just awful. She waved those big yellow flags so long I wondered if she was ever going to do a jump. She did do two jumps and messed them both up.
No I didn’t see that!
this is a case of home field advantage.. We had to expect the ruskies to steal a few.
I have been really disappointed with NBC's showing of the skating. I want to see all the skaters, not just the very last group. And I don't like them showing two four minute skating routines tucked in between two hours of bobsledding.
That would be like just a few gymnast's jumping for a few minutes and then going back to two hours of running. They are forcing me to watch everything online.
“not all athletic events are sports.”
If strength and skill were the only qualifiers to denote a sport, then where is my applause when I get my butt out of the chair, crack open a beer, and snap the cap 15 feet into the garbage can? I mean, strength and skill, right?
I had the same complaint with the gymnastics coverage. They only show the top group & don’t even show all of the event finalists.
My hubby never gets to see wrestling.
NBC spent more time interviewing Nancy Kerrigan and the knee-wackeress, than they did the actual skating.
I hope FOX gets the next winter games.
NBC now has exclusive rights to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, as well as the 2018 Winter Games and 2020 Olympics, whose sites have not yet been chosen. The deal includes all broadcast platforms, including Internet, mobile and hand-held devices.
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=6634886
Next time I just may wait for Youtube.
She knows this goes on 24/7 in her sport. Since Jesus was a Sgt. Please. Now....go make some kick ass mega money....get your revenge that way.
Haven't the 2020 games been awarded to Tokyo?
This was an older article that spoke to the awarding of the broadcast contracts which apparently was done even before the sites were picked.
Good points. In my mind, a sport is an atheletic event that is objectively defined. For example, bowling and darts are objective, but not atheletic. They are realy games of skill. Figure skating, snow boarding, and gymnastics, require a huge amount of athletic ability, but the subjective scoring makes them an athletic event as opposed to a sport or game of skill.
It was reinstated for the following cycle - but I don’t think it will be in the next Olympics.
Not sure why on earth they would drop it.
I do enjoy this Russian ballet!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.