It seems one of the judges is married to the Russian Figure Skating Federation (?) leader and another was caught cheating back in the 1990's giving preferred scores to fellow Russian skaters. Did they cheat this time, too? I have no idea.
I once tried to watch figure skating, but all I saw was a skater jump up into the air and in .000003 seconds do 4 spins, 2 flips (and maybe finish off a Starbucks latte for all I know), then land on her feet and do it again going the other direction. Or so they said.
Meanwhile a judge watches the same and says, "You know, I think the little finger on her left hand wasn't extended far enough. I like to see a more pronounced pinkie. I'm going to deduct 6 points."
What I do know, however, is that just putting judges on the panel with those kind of past indiscretions and potential conflicts of interest makes a mockery of the event. The IOC, or whoever it was that selected the judges, needs to be slapped down.
I've heard many people say these Olympics have lost some of the magic that past Olympics had. This type of SNAFU doesn't help that image.
It's a shame that all events can't just be timed events where the winners and losers are clear cut, with no room for manipulation. First one across the line wins. Here's your medal, sing the song, salute the flag, then go home for the big parade.
And one last Olympic comment: While I enjoy watching the halfpipe and freestyle skiing and such showy events, they sometime seem more like entertainment events than serious Olympic sports.
It's like watching the Harlem Globetrotters....they're great fun to watch, but they aren't the NBA. Not to take away anything from the talents of the participants, but they just don't seem like they "belong" at the same venue.
That said, I've got to get back to my training. Cow chip tossing, if you must know. :)
S
