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Opinion

An Olympics to remember

By Tony Laszlo


記憶に残るオリンピック

ジャッジミスが相次いだアテネオリンピック。 審判の腕を競わせる競技を設け、 2008年は予選を勝ち抜いた者だけを採用しては?

People will remember the 2004 Summer Olympics for a bunch of reasons, some good, some bad.

Firstly, this is the year when the Games returned to the land in which they originated. I hate to be a stick in the mud, but I really thought that the 2000 Games should have gone to Athens, rather than Sydney. True, recognizing the Olympic birthplace is what is important, but 2004? Such an unimpressive number when held up next to a two with three zeros.

And Japanese sports fans have their own particular reason to cherish this year's Olympics. Their countrymen took home more gold, silver and bronze medals this time than ever before in the nation's history. And they won the awards across a wide range of sports. Very impressive!

Seeing the men's gymnastic team win in the overall competition must have rekindled fond memories in anyone old enough to remember the period from 1960 to 1976 when the Japanese men's team was practically unbeatable. Mitsuo Tsukahara is one of the fellows who were snapping up medals during that glorious era. His addition to the coaching staff a few years ago may signal a comeback, starting with the brilliant showing in Athens.

Unfortunately, the 2004 games will also be remembered for some of the most deplorable judging ever. When wrestler Kyoko Hamaguchi lost a semifinals match against Wang Xu, security guards had to restrain her father and coach Heigo "The Animal" Hamaguchi. During the bout her score "magically" gained and shed points. And there was a questionable judging call, as well. Hamaguchi's dad was so incensed he tried to clear the railing between the audience and the playing area to protest the results.

Though little consolation for Hamaguchi, others were hit harder by poor judging this time around. Korean Yang Tae Young's tale is surely one of the most heart-rending. There is no question that a judging error occurred in his case. And it is clear that the error may have cost the South Korean gymnast a gold medal. Still, Yang goes home with just a bronze. Sounds to me like the perfect time to give out two gold medals. Have a heart.

Leonid Arkayev, president of the Russian Gymnastics Federation, lambasted the "judging mafia" as he lamented the poor showing of two of his country's star gymnasts. One of them, Alexei Nemov, wowed the audience with difficult and dramatic maneuvers on the horizontal bar but was given a low score of 9.725. When the crowd watching reacted violently to the decision, Nemov's score was adjusted a bit resulting in a slightly higher finish. Later, one judge on the panel admitted that he had raised his evaluation of Nemov in response to the pressure from the crowd. Judges reacting to the audience? That opens a whole new can of worms.

Something should be done about these issues, but what? I know: Let's have a judging competition and let only the winners handle the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Who gets to judge the judges? The sports fans, of course! We'll start off with a stiff eye examination; I'm not so sure some of those folks are seeing straight.



Shukan ST: Sept. 10, 2004

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