When U.S. gymnast Aly Raisman completed her routine on the balance beam during the individual finals Tuesday, she hugged her coach and stared at the scoreboard, waiting to see whether she had done enough to medal.
When the score finally flashed, a nervous Raisman became disappointed.
"Oh, no!" her coach, Mihai Brestyan, proclaimed as he spotted the eerily familiar results.
She had landed in fourth place – again – and just shy of the medal stand for the second time in the Olympics.
What happened next would again thrust the judges, athletes and coaches into a heated debate over Olympic scoring.
As Raisman tried to hold back her disappointment, shouts came from the crowd. U.S. national team coordinator Martha Karolyi, her husband, Bela (who is no longer associated with Team USA but is a constant fixture), and vice president of USA women's gymnastics Kathy Kelly shouted and motioned for Brestyan to file a protest.
They believed that the judges hadn't accurately tabulated her difficulty score, specifically the connections between a few of her elements on the beam. Brestyan raced around the gym to get a form to fill out in the allotted time. Meanwhile, Raisman congratulated Catalina Ponor of Romania, who was in position for bronze.
Raisman and Team USA anxiously stared at the scoreboard as judges from the International Gymnastics Federation reviewed video of her routine.
"It might be a tie," Raisman said: a repeat of the all-around finals. Raisman had tied Russia's Aliya Mustafina, which in the all-around means the lowest score was dropped. Raisman, long seen as the rock of the team, had narrowly missed an individual medal because of the tiebreaker rule. She was worried it would happen again.
And Raisman was right, it was a tie. But her coach quickly reminded her she would end up on the podium because the execution scores alone, not the difficulty, were judged in the tiebreaker.
The scoreboard flashed the official result. The tiebreaker went in Raisman's favor this time, and she received a bronze medal.
It was perhaps one of the longest moments of Raisman's career. But it was not the first time this chaotic scene had played out in the Olympics - or questions about the accuracy of judging had come up.
For years, debate has stirred about how accurately sports can be judged, especially in the Olympics. Many have argued that everything is subjective. And in a sport that comes down to hundredths of a point, that can be everything. As Raisman knows, it can also be the difference between being an Olympic medalist and missing out entirely.
That is part of the reason the inquiry system Raisman's coach used was instituted.
"The inquiry was introduced along with FIG's new scoring system following the 2004 Olympics, where judging disasters marred the men's all-around and high bar finals. (The inquiry replaced an appeals process, which had a far lower rate of overturning scores at the 2004 Olympics, at least)," Nick Zaccardi wrote in a Sports Illustrated column explaining the system, using the acronym for the International Gymnastics Federation. "The FIG did away with the perfect 10 and redid its 'code of points' system with the more complicated two-pronged approach. The benefits of the change included eliminating potential bias in judging, the FIG said in 2005. Video review was also introduced."
Team USA's use of the inquiry in Raisman's case was the third in gymnastics during this Olympics alone.
Japan made a similar request over Kohei Uchimura's score on the pommel horse during the men's team finals.
Uchimura, one of the best men's gymnasts and a hero in his home country, was seen as a lock to propel Japan to a medal. But after his score was shown on the screen, it seemed Japan would be left off the podium. The scores placed China with the gold, Great Britain with the silver and Ukraine with the bronze. Japan, like Raisman, sat in fourth.
As commentators on NBC wondered whether "the greatest gymnast of our time dropped the ball," the camera quickly panned to the judges' table, where a Japanese coach was seen with money in his hand, filling out an inquiry form. FIG requires a payment of $300 to file an appeal. If the score is overturned, the money is returned.
Japan claimed that Uchimura had also been overlooked in the scoring: specifically, that he did connect a handstand before his dismount.
Japan challenged the score given to gymnast Kohei Uchimura on the pommel horse during the men's team final.
An announcement came in Japan's favor. It was one that greatly altered the standings. Ukraine was left without a medal, and the host nation was now taking home the bronze, something the home crowd was clearly displeased about.
During the men’s all-around competition, Germany's Fabian Hambuchen's pommel horse score was also protested, but the committee rejected the appeal.
The nature of scoring in gymnastics, similar to figure skating, has been debated as largely subjective despite attempts to correct concerns through recent FIG changes.
That's something Romania's Ponor, who lost out on a medal after Raisman's challenge, and her coach now know all too well. Ponor's face went from excitement to disappointment in the course of a few minutes. Coach Yuliy Kuksenkov who said after the ruling that "life is life," perhaps best capturing many people's thoughts regarding the routine disagreements about scoring.
"In athletics, 100 meters is just 100 meters," Sports Illustrated quoted him as saying. "Sometimes in gymnastics, it's 95 meters or 105 meters."
It's not all about gymnastics, though.
A scoring controversy in fencing last week left South Korea's Shin A-Lam in tears - and left her refusing to leave the piste. She appealed to judges over a delayed and stuck clock that had resulted in extra points being awarded to Britta Heidemann of Germany. Had she left the piste during the appeal, it would have signaled she agreed with the judges.
YouTube: A Lego re-enactment with the play-by-play, created by The Guardian
The South Korean was photographed sitting in the same spot for more than 70 minutes as she awaited the appeal and then refused to leave after it was handed down. She was finally escorted off the stage, sobbing.
South Korea's Shin A-Lam was finally escorted off in tears.
"I did everything I could," Shin told Reuters after the match. "They said 'your fencer has to continue the match,' so I had to accept the decision."
Accepting the decision may be part of it, but so is being prepared and willing to fight for the scores you believe are deserved.
U.S. gymnast Jordyn Wieber's coach told Sports Illustrated that he kept a filled-out inquiry form with him, just in case.
But as Raisman, Brestyan, Ponor, Uchimura, Shin and others know: It's an imperfect two-sided coin. You have to know when to make the call and be able to do it quickly in gymnastics, and sometimes you just fall on the wrong side of the ruling.
"I agree with the system," Brestyan said, according to Sports Illustrated. "The system sometimes helps. Sometimes not."
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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The americans always think it's unfair when they don't win. When another country does better, their commentators make comments like "i hope the doping judges are doing their job"... my mother who lives in the US won't even watch the games on their network... it's all PRO US and in many cases they don't even show who won the silver or bronze medal in several events (unless they were american), as soon as they show US-GOLD, the camera cuts to the winner and you don't even get to see how everyone else placed. Make me puke!!!
Nonsense.
What evs, dude. I felt awful for that Korean girl. She got burned hard. Nothing to do with being American.
Pro US on US networks. Heaven forbid. Doh
Agree with 100%. well said. Americans always thinkthey have the legitimate right to the top of everythings just because they are Americans. They forget that there are lot of people in the world that can do far better.
WOW! Pure ignorance; of course the "U.S. Media" focuses on the U.S.athletes. We have 4hr's a day to cram in over a hundred hr's of footage. Are we supposed to apologize for for cheering our Country on? If you want to see another country on T.V... THEN BEAT US!
Doesn't every country celebrate its own athletes? As for your other charges - I can't think of any event I've watched in this Olympics for which NBC did NOT show all the winners. There was even a track and field event yesterday (400M, I think) in which no Americans were in the finals, and yet NBC still showed the entire race. NBC frequently tells the back stories of non-American athletes, and the commentators are often happy when a non-American wins. Maybe you should watch the coverage yourself instead of automatically repeating the opinions of your mother - who, as you admit, does not watch the U.S. coverage of the Olympics.
Maybe that's because it's an American telecast! What exactly do you expect?
U.S. tv favoring usa? No way!
Clearly so many of you are missing the point. It's one thing to favour your own team but cutting the camera just before they show who placed silver/bronze, just because they aren't american. that's the problem and damn right self centred. So glad I live in Canada where I can see how EVERYONE is doing, and our commentators don't look for faults with the other countries who do better. At least be honest with yourselves and accept if you don't get #1 instead of making ridiculous comments like "i hope the doping judges are doing their job"... you'd never say that when your own athletes place first. get over yourselves.
oh and sorry I hit a nerve. you americans are VERY sensitive
@The Fear – The article and evidence clearly show that multiple countries from all regions around the world filed appeals yet you chose to single out the US as disingenuous in their appeals. Also, every country around the world applies specific focus to their athletes on television. Maybe a little more time in more countries would broaden your perspective...
how typical it is to label someone anti american, just because they would like to see how other countries place.
I can assure you I am NOT anti american, I was born and raised there, and visit my parents there all the time. Chose to live in Canada. heaven forbid i don't think US is the best place on earth.
Give me a break. It's the same here in Australia. We only got to watch the Australian performers, and only other nations when there was an Australian interest involved. Get off the "let's bash the yank" bandwagon. You're starting to sound just like those you're bashing, spouting off about an opinion that you know nothing about.
Aww Muffin! I think someone needs a good old American hug!
Pathetic. We are the only country in the world that is never, ever allowed to be patriotic. So even during the Olympics, which are all about patriotic pride, she can't watch because the American stations are pro-America? She definitely shouldn't watch them. She just isn't smart enough. Maybe she could stare at the wall instead? Nah, she probably assume that the wall is too pro-wall.
The author forgot to write about the referee in women's soccer between USA and Canada. Referee failed to notice a handball by us player inside the box, but gave an indirect free kick for delay of game in favor of us. Never has this penalty been called in the history of soccer. The free kick resulted in a penalty kick because the of an unintentional handball. I suppose that is the only way US can ever win and that is because they needed help from the ref.
The reasons why the US win so much is because not only do they have the money to buy off refs/judges, they also have the money to hire the best coaches from around the world. I've seen so many US athletes with coaches from russia etc... it's no frigging wonder. Every other athlete uses coaches from it's own country.
It may have been a bad call (I didn't watch game but have seen lots of coverage on this handball) but to say this is the only way the US women can win soccer games is a bit silly.
Aren't the US women like 44-5 all time versus the Canadiens? Just saying, there probably wasn't a bad call handball in all of those games... clearly, the US women field a pretty strong soccer team...
I agree with you Dr.sensei. That U.S Canada soccer game was all 1 sided. I understand these ref's make mistakes but there were too many of them. Canada deserved to win that game, but of course the americans won't agree. All you have to do is watch the game and you will see all the evidence, especially when the American player admitted to influencing the ref. Very upsetting game.
You anti-American commentators are all losers from second-tier nations, ESPECIALLY China. LOL
lol Marlboro, you're the perfect example. as soon as someone says something that isn't "pro-american", they are suddenly anti-american. Stop being so insecure.
Gold for everyone. Because they tried.
Ahem, was there any American blogging about the atrocious refereeing in the Canada vs USA football match on Monday?
Every participant should get a gold medal for showing up and trying, because my momma said if I try, then I am a winner.
You are a winner for trying, but that doesn't mean you should get gold... there are winners, and there are losers, in life, and in sports, and not everyone will get a trophy
looks like another judge got bought
Get over it, it's just a freaking game. Get a real job like the rest of us.
Clearly some corruption got this girl the bronze.
Its the olympics....yawn. Thankfully pre-season football is here
I'm sure nobody has mentioned the Canada VS USA The calls that were made and not made were beyond awful!
Honestly?
Americans worry more about the state of our nation right now, not a bunch of people playing games.
The Olympics are an outdated concept.
One needs to look no further than Badmitton to see what a joke it really is.
Manny Pacquiao needs a form.....
BD
No bloging because they won as expected.
Go USA!
Perhaps having to rely on someone else to judge how well you performed means it's not really a sport.