British cyclist fell on purpose to restart race - but they can KEEP gold medal

J

jdileo

Regular Member
"Hindes, 19, suggested the crash was part of a deliberate ploy because the British team had made a poor start.

He said after winning gold: 'We were saying if we have a bad start, we need to crash to get a restart. I just crashed, I did it on purpose to get a restart, just to have the fastest ride. I did it. So it was all planned, really.'

The International Cycling Union confirmed that the incident had been reviewed at the time and the result was not in question - so all three British cyclists will keep their gold medals."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...dal-admitting-fell-purpose.html#ixzz22V2TboNF

Well, this is a clear case of "Not using one's best efforts" and cheating/manipulating the system to win at the end. Yet they were not only unpunished they were awarded the Gold medal. And there isn't much uproar and vitriol over this cheating scandal, at least nowhere near the scathing attacks on the WD badminton players.

Let's face it, athletes will try to win the match and if the system is open to manipulation so they can advance their goal then wouldn't they be not "using their best efforts to win the match" if they don't try? I am not advocating cheating but we need to look at the system that invites such behavior. Moreover, they should disqualify ALL athletes (another example - Coach tells Japanese Olympic soccer team to tie, not win) who do not use their best efforts in a competition, not just the WD badminton players.
 
the only reason they made a big fuss about badminton is it involved asians. so many controversies involved asians in this olympics.:crying:
 
jdileo said:
"Hindes, 19, suggested the crash was part of a deliberate ploy because the British team had made a poor start.

He said after winning gold: 'We were saying if we have a bad start, we need to crash to get a restart. I just crashed, I did it on purpose to get a restart, just to have the fastest ride. I did it. So it was all planned, really.'

The International Cycling Union confirmed that the incident had been reviewed at the time and the result was not in question - so all three British cyclists will keep their gold medals."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...dal-admitting-fell-purpose.html#ixzz22V2TboNF

Well, this is a clear case of "Not using one's best efforts" and cheating/manipulating the system to win at the end. Yet they were not only unpunished they were awarded the Gold medal. And there isn't much uproar and vitriol over this cheating scandal, at least nowhere near the scathing attacks on the WD badminton players.

Let's face it, athletes will try to win the match and if the system is open to manipulation so they can advance their goal then wouldn't they be not "using their best efforts to win the match" if they don't try? I am not advocating cheating but we need to look at the system that invites such behavior. Moreover, they should disqualify ALL athletes (another example - Coach tells Japanese Olympic soccer team to tie, not win) who do not use their best efforts in a competition, not just the WD badminton players.
Click to expand...

He was joking, they were all laughing when he said it and he admitted later on in an interview he was lying, he had a problem.

P.S little tip for ya, don't believe anything you read in the Daily Mail
 
Also women's team at the velodrome today in a qualifying heat just set the world record and beat the second best qualifiers by nearly 4 seconds. Class acts.
 
jdileo said:
I guess you would not believe the AP either.
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/48478786/ns/sports-olympic_sports/

Perhaps the badminton players should have faked a fall like the Brit and they would have been deemed using "best efforts."
Click to expand...

What? I know what he said that's all that source reports what they are not stating is that he was joking did you watch it? It is all besides the point anyway. "Best efforts" code of conduct rule is a BWF rule not a cycling rule or an Olympic rule.
 
Home court advantage, I assume.

The problem with badminton is the fan's reaction, which gives the IOC/BWF excuse (or pressure) to excute whatever the god standard on the Asian players.

For the home cycling team, the fan's must be cheering loudly for such a "smart strategy to save the day". So, no issue at all...
 
craigandy said:
He was joking, they were all laughing when he said it and he admitted later on in an interview he was lying, he had a problem.

P.S little tip for ya, don't believe anything you read in the Daily Mail
Click to expand...

Well, he's the home team, so be it's joking or real (then masked as a joke), it's fine.

Just imagine is a CHN player joking about such "strategy" or so, at least there will be a lengthy investigation following up, if not result in stripping of medal.
 
Technically, the "best effort" and "detrimental to the sport" are the bylaws of BWF, not IOC. So they do not apply to other sports.
 
As proposed with badminton, Solution #3 solves all.

Better alternative for cyclists who crash and force restart.

Have all riders restart the race but with one change in the rules. Each team that crashes causing a restart must have each rider on the team remove two articles of clothing (excluding shoes because that would just get too nasty, helmets or gloves for safety). I guarantee you that the race will become very crash-restart free. Worldwide viewers would increase to record levels. Sponsorship money will flow.
 
fourdims said:
Technically, the "best effort" and "detrimental to the sport" are the bylaws of BWF, not IOC. So they do not apply to other sports.
Click to expand...

So, all of sudden we are no longer talking about "OLYMPIC SPIRIT" anymore? So, since other sports system is flawed (do not even have to try best effort), then their players taking advantage of their system flaw is "very much acceptable" now?

Where's the outcry of "if you do not try best, go home and let others play", "shame shame shame", "dirty strategy", "moral standard", etc?
 
I agree with LazyBuddy. Then it is even more absurd for the IOC to allow one sport to be penalized for "not using best efforts" and not the other; albeit hiding behind the sport's so-called governing body. The rules should be uniform for something that is not specific to the sport. They don't rely on the governing bodies to test doping.
 
I wonder if this has anything to do with the switch from amateur-only to pros-allowed, and all the commercial or government incentives. I think that for many of us who play as amateurs who do not rely on our results for our livelihood, it is a bit shocking. Some of these pros will have a career that ends at about 30 years old.

When money comes into the picture things seem to get nastier and rules are pushed or broken. See banking scandals for examples.
 
I would agree with the home court advantage thing. You know what though, if it was another nation that did this and the British was off to a great start and they were screwed out of the medal, I would bet there's going to be a HUGE uproar saying they're robbed and the system was bad etc.... But hey, when the rule just happens to be in your favor ppl shut up very quickly and see it as a great "TACTICAL" display by the teams.

In the NHL stanley cup finals, Dallas beat Buffalo in OT with a controversial goal but because the players and fans are already celebrating etc, the game was over and they didn't review the play.

In sports the dominating team seems to get alot of heat/hate from others but that's how fans are. I personally love the New York Yankees and how they go about trying to win championships but people hate them because they spend much more than other teams and they're just buying championships. Well, to me that's just others being jealous of the resources the team put in while their own team decide they don't want to spend or it's not worth it for them. Same with the Heat in the NBA, the hate on the team and Lebron James is very very high as well...
 
LazyBuddy said:
Just imagine is a CHN player joking about such "strategy" or so, at least there will be a lengthy investigation following up, if not result in stripping of medal.
Click to expand...

not to mention tons of bashing posts before the investigation itself. :D

be it joking or not with this cycling case, only he know the real thing.
 
Last edited:
LazyBuddy said:
So, all of sudden we are no longer talking about "OLYMPIC SPIRIT" anymore? So, since other sports system is flawed (do not even have to try best effort), then their players taking advantage of their system flaw is "very much acceptable" now?

Where's the outcry of "if you do not try best, go home and let others play", "shame shame shame", "dirty strategy", "moral standard", etc?
Click to expand...

What? this has nothing to do with olympic spirit this is BWF code of conduct lets not get confused. If this kinda thing was allowed by BWF within the rules then niether the crowd nor the IOC would have given two thoughts about it. In other word it's acceptable if it is within the rules it was not in badminton, it was in the cycling even if he was not lying.
 
interesting story and comparison..

relatively the same "motive" by all parties, the "motive" was pre-planned in advance..

fortunate they won (and kept the Gold)..imagine if they re-started and still lost esp. after falling down, getting all bruised up and got floor burns..
 
jdileo said:
I agree with LazyBuddy. Then it is even more absurd for the IOC to allow one sport to be penalized for "not using best efforts" and not the other; albeit hiding behind the sport's so-called governing body. The rules should be uniform for something that is not specific to the sport. They don't rely on the governing bodies to test doping.
Click to expand...

Your mistaken it is not the IOC that makes the rules for the individual sports. "Not using best efforts" is not i repeat not an Olympic rule.Cycling has no such rule along with alot of other sports.
 
jdileo said:
I agree with LazyBuddy. Then it is even more absurd for the IOC to allow one sport to be penalized for "not using best efforts" and not the other; albeit hiding behind the sport's so-called governing body. The rules should be uniform for something that is not specific to the sport. They don't rely on the governing bodies to test doping.
Click to expand...

Your mistaken it is not the IOC that makes the rules for the individual sports. "Not using best efforts" is not i repeat not an Olympic rule.Cycling has no such rule along with alot of other sports
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top