Good sportsmanship at Olympics

[piglet too]

Now I know that these two guys are friends, but that really does not matter to me.

Did anyone hear what Austrian swimmer Markus Rogan said about the original DQ, and subsequent reversal, for Aaron Peirsol? Not only has he been quoted by saying that the DQ would have been unfair, he also said "friendship is more important than a medal" and something along the lines of how he was not sure if he could have accepted the gold if the DQ had stood. Again, I know that he lives and trains in the U.S., I think they even go to the same school, but none-the-less, his comments are a wonderful display of sportsmanship.

 

[lisajl]

I agree! It's nice to see these sorts of things happening.

As Willy Wonka once said, " So shines a good deed in a weary world."

Lisajl

 

[Danauk]

I agree. I watched the event live and saw the interview with the British guy who came 4th, then was moved to bronze before losing his medal again. He said a similar thing and that he felt he did not deserve the medal as the winning time was so good. I thought the British guy showed great sportsmanship too, especially as he was from a different country so was not just sticking up for a team mate. I think both these 2 men showed great sportsmanship.

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

Unfortunately the same cannot be said of their countries. Austria and Great Britain are appealing the Aaron Piersol gold medal decision.

Oh, and to add that South Korea is contesting the men's gymnastic All-Around final. Fortunately, the gold cannot be taken away from Hamm now, but the judges could be sanctioned. S. Korea says the judges screwed up in scoring the 3rd place finisher's parallel bars routine by scoring it out of a 9.8 instead of a 9.9 as they should have. With that extra tenth, he would have finished first.

Ah, I just love the genial, community nature of the Olympic, don't you?

 

[piglet too]

Originally posted by theSurlyMermaid
Unfortunately the same cannot be said of their countries. Austria and Great Britain are appealing the Aaron Piersol gold medal decision.

Could you link me to this story? I could not find it on Yahoo!, thanks!

 

[Bob Slydell]

Peirsol and Rogan didn't go to the same school, but they competed quite a bit throughout college. I agree, Rogan showed true sportsmanship -- did anyone notice right as the DQ was posted, Rogan went up to Peirsol and said something like, "You should protest this".

 

[Miss Jasmine]

did anyone notice right as the DQ was posted, Rogan went up to Peirsol and said something like, "You should protest this".

 

[wvrevy]

Correction: their countries were protesting this, as the appeal has already been rejected. (According to USAToday).

 

[piglet too]

Originally posted by Bob Slydell
did anyone notice right as the DQ was posted, Rogan went up to Peirsol and said something like, "You should protest this".

I saw that too, and again was amazed by his great attitude. I had heard about it earlier, so made a point to watch it.

 

[kidzmom3]

In Gymnastics,I did not think the Russian girl who came in with the silver last night was a good sport at all. She appeared to be trying to take over the spot light over Carly Peterson. They stated many times that she is a Diva and calls herself the gymnastics queen. I also read, that last year when Carly tried to congratulate her on her Gold win at Worlds, the girl just kept reading a magazine. How Rude

 

[danacara]

Rogan learned English at age 14, when his family moved from Austria to Virginia. Three years later, a 1460 on the SAT. He probably could've gotten into Stanford on academics alone, without athletics, and he's a class act to boot, based on what we saw and heard last night.

I love the Olympics. I just love to watch all of that absolute, across-the-board excellence. It inspires me.

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

Thanks for the update, wvrevy.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5769905/

Here's the article, but it says that while the countries' appeals were rejected, the British are thinking of taking it up with the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sports). They are still acting pretty badly, IMO.

 

[Chicago526]

Originally posted by theSurlyMermaid
Thanks for the update, wvrevy.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5769905/

Here's the article, but it says that while the countries' appeals were rejected, the British are thinking of taking it up with the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sports). They are still acting pretty badly, IMO.

Especially since the replay of the turn he made that's in question shows that the turn was fine, he did nothing wrong!

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

Originally posted by Chicago526
Especially since the replay of the turn he made that's in question shows that the turn was fine, he did nothing wrong!

No kidding! they showed the replay a million times, and he didn't do anything the other swimmers didn't do!

What a bogus call. Hopefully, he will not judge another swimming event.