Olympics-Snowboarding-Gold medal-winning knee seize controversy causes frustration

By Jenna Zucker

BEIJING (Reuters) – The boys’s snowboarding slopestyle closing on the Beijing Olympics appeared to have a picture-perfect ending when Max Parrot took gold following a comeback from most cancers.

Parrot, who accomplished his final spherical of chemotherapy remedies for Hodgkin lymphoma in 2019, got here out in entrance of China’s Su Yiming, who took silver, and fellow Canadian Mark McMorris within the bronze medal place.

Nonetheless, as new video angles of the competitors appeared, followers’ attitudes shifted.

These photographs confirmed that in Parrot’s successful run the Canadian grabbed his knee throughout a trick, not the board, and may have misplaced factors for not finishing a key element of the manoeuvre.

Supporters of Su and McMorris have been outraged and berated the judges on social media and in personal messages, in keeping with media studies.

McMorris mentioned it was a disgrace the knee seize was not caught earlier.

“Another contest, if they might have seen it, that might have been an entire write-off of a run, like a 75-80,” mentioned McMorris, who hoped for a unique medal after additionally successful bronze in Sochi and Pyeongchang.

“The very fact the angle the judges had simply was not that straightforward to make out if he touched his board or not, and by the point they went to slo mo it turned tremendous obvious that he didn’t seize and he grabbed his knees and no board buy,” mentioned McMorris.

A media consultant for Parrot didn’t reply to an e-mail request for a touch upon the scenario.

Feedback on McMorris’ social media have been a mix of congratulations and anger about getting “robbed” by the judges.

On China’s Weibo, Su’s coach Yasuhiro Sato posted a message asking followers to chorus from criticizing the judges and that he and Su respect the movement of the sport and the result.

ERROR MISSED

In an interview with snowboarding publication, Iztok Sumatic, Beijing Olympics head decide for snowboarding, admitted that judges missed the error. Sumatic mentioned the trick regarded clear from the digital camera angle they got, the report mentioned.

“Is it actually the spirit that the Olympics need to convey to confess to having accomplished one thing unsuitable with out correcting the outcome?” one Weibo person wrote.

This has raised questions in regards to the angles judges are proven in the course of the competitions.

Japan’s Ayumu Hirano, who gained gold within the males’s halfpipe nL8N2UM0AQ on Friday, additionally questioned the judging course of for snowboarding.

In a information convention on Saturday, Hirano mentioned there wanted to be a “extra sturdy system” to precisely assess the methods.

Hirano and plenty of of his followers had been disenchanted when judges awarded an unexpectedly low rating throughout his second run when the Japanese boarder landed a triple cork, which is taken into account one of the crucial difficult methods within the sport.

“We need to have sound requirements and I feel we must always look into precisely what the judges have been taking a look at,” Hirano added.

“For the athletes, they’re placing their lives on the road, they’re giving it their all. So for the riders, I feel some steps have to be taken to deal with this problem relating to the judges,” he mentioned, including that the matter shouldn’t be ignored.

The Worldwide Ski Federation didn’t reply to a request for remark.

McMorris for his half mentioned he was glad for Parrot however discovered the scenario irritating for the snowboarding group that such an issue occurred of their largest competitors.

(Reporting by Jenna Zucker; further reporting by Mari Saito and Krystal Hu; Modifying by Christian Schmollinger and Ken Ferris)