Gymnastics Controversy

The scoring system, the judges, the deductions, the gymnast. That's what normally determines (in order) the score of a gymnastics routine. That's what determines who is the best gymnast in the world.

Jordyn Weiber reacts after being knocked out of the gymnastics
all-around finals by teammate and friend Allie Raisman.

This year in London, however, something else is determining who will win the gold medal: a technicality.

Last night in the women's all-around qualifications, Americans Allie Raisman, Gaby Douglas, and Jordyn Wieber finished 2-3-4 in the standings. 24 women qualify for the all-around finals later this week. However, Jordyn Wieber is not one of them due to a rule with allows for "spreading the wealth" of Olympic glory.

This is sickening.


Since the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, a rule has been in place in gymnastics which allows only two gymnasts from a country to advance to the all-around finals. So, as a result, instead of Wieber, the defending world champion who had the fourth best qualifying effort, Australian Ashleigh Brennan (who had the 28th best qualifying score, averaging 1.45 points less per apparatus than Wieber) can compete in the finals. Brennan, as well as many others, have NO chance to medal. Neither does Wieber, but that's not due to her talent but due to a silly rule.

Olympics author David Wallechinsky states that the Olympic philosophy is "we want to spread the wealth, we want to spread sport to other parts of the world."  This is a good mindset, I agree. As csmonitor.com put it, "...otherwise, there would be no Saudi Arabian woman runners or American badminton players" in the Olympic games.

I agree. Let the best make the games, let some smaller countries get the glory of sending athletes to the greatest event in the world. That is the spirit of the Olympics.

Alexandra Raisman gets a hug and kiss from her coach
after qualifying for the all-around finals.

But once you've made it to the biggest stage, with the best athletes in the world, then the best athletes and those who compete the best are the ones who deserve to win the medals.

Jordyn Wieber is not alone in this technicality. Russia's Anastasia Grishina finished 12th in the all-around qualifications, but because she finished behind teammates Victoria Komova (1st overall) and Aliya Mustafina (5th overall), she also cannot compete in the finals.

And this goes for individual events as well. American Kyla Ross scored 6th best (top eight qualify) in on the balance beam. Fellow Americans Gaby Douglas (3rd) and Allie Raisman (5th) scored better, so Ross has no shot at the individual medal. And in fact, Ross is the only American who doesn't have a shot at an individual medal (Douglas - BB, UB, AA ... Raisman - BB, FE, AA ... Weiber - FE ... McKayla Maroney - V).

Why can this happen? It's the Olympics. These are the best athletes in the world. I agree to get great athletes from around the world to show their talents, but by limiting the number of Olympians from a country who can advance to the finals of an event, you are limiting the talent that exists worldwide.

A podium sweep like this one from women's individual saber in 2008
should be allowed to happen. You play to win. The best SHOULD win.
Or, I should say, the best should have THE CHANCE to win.

The only possible reason I can see for limiting the number of competitors per country like this is to prevent a podium sweep for a country. But why? If Korea has the best archers in the world (like they do this year), they ought to take all three medals. If the United States has the best fencers in the world (like they did in 2008) then they ought to sweep the podium like they did. No rule should limit that.

Not to mention you should not have to root AGAINST A TEAMMATE for you to advance to the next round of 24 when you are both good enough to medal.

The United States will almost certainly win the team all-around in women's gymnastics this year. That's because they have three of the best gymnasts in the world on their team. But only two can show that they are the best on the individual stage.

What is great about sports: the best team/player does not always win.

What's wrong with sports: the best teams/players sometimes do not have the OPPORTUNITY to win.