Posted on 08/22/2008 4:05:59 PM PDT by Virginia Ridgerunner
With taekwondo already rumored to be on the brink of Olympic elimination, the sport was doing everything it could to avoid even the slightest shock of controversy.
On Friday, it was struck by lightning.
In a chaotic episode that might ultimately prove to be the tipping point to Olympic doom, American two-time defending gold medalist Steven Lopez was eliminated from gold-medal contention on a controversial referee’s decision. Lopez would go on to win bronze in the 80-kilogram weight class, but not until after his team leader, Herb Perez, had filed a protest and then ripped the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) for intimidation and gross mismanagement of the sport’s rules and oversight.
“When (poor judging) happens to you, you’re told to shut up and not say anything because of what will happen to you, or what will happen to the sport,” Perez said. “If this is truly what taekwondo is about, maybe taekwondo shouldn’t be in the Olympics. Maybe they should fix it.”
(snip)
What came next had the WTF scrambling on the defensive as Perez came out with some serious allegations. First, he said the protest wasn’t properly handled – that the Olympic Competition Supervisory Board didn’t respond for 45 minutes, well outside of the allotted 15 minutes typically allowed. Second, Perez said they were given little explanation as to why their protest had been deemed “unacceptable.”
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.yahoo.com ...
This plus the shenanigans with a boxing judge.
Sorry, it was a boxing judge, but a “deputy technical delegate” for boxing.
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