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| A Dive |
It emerged that the UCI rules are poorly drafted. Team's are given a restart in the event of a 'mishap'. What constitutes a mishap has not been defined. It is generally understood to mean 'a mechanical failure' and the rule was not intended to cover a situation where a competitor throws himself to the track deliberately. In the absence of a clear definition France were unable to challenge the situation. They accepted British superiority and merely called for a much needed rule change in future. Nonetheless they were able to rightly state that the actions of Hindes were a 'poor example of the Olympic Spirit'.
One can only imagine the uproar if this action had deprived Team GB (Sir Chris?) of a Home Gold medal. We cannot demand the highest values of others and deplore the actions of, for instance, the disqualified badminton players, and yet condone the actions of Hindes.
UPDATE 31.8.12
More controversy today at Paralympics over the unfortunate 'mishap rule'. Team GB's Jody Cundy a gold medal prospect in the 1km Pursuit exited the start gate and his rear wheel appeared to slip. Cundy immediately raised his hand to request a restart, but to his horror, his request was denied and his race was over. Cundy did not throw himself to the ground, as Hindes had done, whether to highlight his 'mishap' or to ensure a mishap. Officials considered that Cundy had made an error and had suffered a 'mishap'. Frankly the rule is so open to interpretation that it is bonkers! Cundy behaved badly afterwards. He berated officials, swore at them and briefly let himself down badly. Recovering he apologised to the crowd and promised to return for further events tomorrow. I cannot condone the behaviour, but I like a good apology. 4 years preparation up in smoke without a proper race is pretty good mitigation in my book.
O for goodness sake, he was joking! It was a poorly timed joke admittedly, but it came across as a joke all the same. It's a shame the naysayers have to find some fault in these Games and spoil such amazing feats.
ReplyDeleteIt seemed like he was joking to me. When he said he made a 'bad start', it was pretty clear he was going for understatement - he was all over the place right out of the starting gate, it wasn't as if he had a little wobble and then took a dive.
ReplyDeleteI would say that is exactly the sort of thing the 'mishap' rule is supposed to cover. He may have gone the whole hog and fallen over to underline the point, but the mishap had already happened, and it was interesting that his team mates were already raising their hands to claim a restart before he went down.
Imagine a rider who falls off immediately out of the starting gate. Not a 'mechanical failure' but does anyone seriously think that isn't the sort of mishap the rule is designed to cover?
And 'Plastic Brit'? German mother, British serviceman father. If ever there was someone who could validly choose which of two countries to represent, it's someone like him.