By Well I wonder if anyone in South Korea will be claiming that this Gold Medal isn’t legitimate because the winner was disqualified? You all should know the answer to this:
Olympic history is littered with athletes who have blown a shot at glory through lack of preparation, failure to handle pressure, or plain bad luck. For Dutch speedskater Kramer, his chance to enter the history books crashed around his ears because of a split-second mental meltdown, the most basic of sporting errors.
“It sucks,” Kramer said. “I can’t believe it. I don’t usually want to blame anyone else, but this time I can’t do anything else.”
With eight laps to go in the men’s 10,000 meters, a lung-bursting 25-lap slog that is sometimes tedious but a feat of titanic endurance nonetheless, Kramer had his second gold of the Games all wrapped up. Cruising along the back straight, he had, at least in skating terms, time to stop for a cup of tea and a chat with coach Kemkers before clinching his spot atop the podium.
But then a single point of Kemkers’ finger and a cry of “inside lane” directed the skater to the inner course when he should have switched to the outer, providing one of the most surreal moments of the past nine days.
“It is the worst moment of my career,” said Kemkers, who was the United States’ speedskating coach and was based in Milwaukee from 1994 to 1998. “My world collapsed.” [Yahoo Sports]
So who did this allow to win the Gold? A South Korean of course:
“There will be a lot of jokes made about it,” said Team USA’s Chad Hedrick, who suffered a similar fate in a world championship event in 2006. “To be the fastest guy out there and not leave with the gold medal is pretty tough to swallow.”
It is no laughing matter for Kramer, who completed the course and finished 7.57 seconds ahead of South Korea’s Lee Seung-hoon – but saw Lee awarded gold when he was disqualified.
“It is a real expensive mistake,” Kramer said.
Well I wonder if anyone in South Korea will be claiming that this Gold Medal isn’t legitimate because the winner like you heard when Apolo Anton Ohno won Gold back in 2002 and a Silver medal earlier this Olympics? I think we all know the answer to this question. Anyway congrats to Lee for winning the Gold because part of the competition is following the rules, which he did and deservedly won the Gold.
4:32 am on February 24th, 2010 1
GI,
There is a big difference between Ohno´s situation and Lee´s situation because Ohno´s Gold medal was controversial while Lee´s medal is not.
When Korean team complained about the Korean athlete disqualification most competitors from other nations sided with Korea showing how controversial the decision was, but in Lee’s case Kramer’s fault was clear and it was even acknowledged by the Dutch team before the judge’s decision. If you watch the video you will see that the Dutch team coach approaches Kramer as soon as he crosses the finish line to tell him about the fault, than he throws away his goggle.
Besides, Ohno´s active role in the Korean athlete’s disqualification was what rose the anger of Korean people in this case.
Anyway, it is indeed a sad situation for the Dutch athlete and he deserved the gold medal.
4:48 am on February 24th, 2010 2
I don't think you can even utter Lee Seung-hoon and Ohno in the same sentence. Clearly very different situations…
Hopefully the Dutch athlete will learn some humility on top of skating skills… I read on Korean media that he (during interview after 1st Gold) scoffed at Americans, saying things like they only know Baseball and not much else or something to that effect.
4:49 am on February 24th, 2010 3
Yup, that's pretty much what I expected a Korean national to say.
That's why I think most of them are hypocrites.
Way to prove my point… BOY!
It's one twisted excuse after another, that much is obvious with the above response.
5:00 am on February 24th, 2010 4
Are you one of those gyopo draft dodgers I hear talking so much?
You know, the type who are really American or whatever, but pretend to be a Korean national, yet aren't real Korean men (according to what male & female Korean nationals have told me) because they only pay lip service and haven't served in the ROK military and paid their due's to Korean society.
5:01 am on February 24th, 2010 5
The "above response" being being Yu's
6:17 am on February 24th, 2010 6
Glad to know I satisfied your expectation.
BTW, what excuse????
6:21 am on February 24th, 2010 7
@JOHNT
Hmm, so are you agreeing with my opinion or not? I like to stick to the topic at hand.
Whether I'm a gyopo draft dodger or not, that's NOT relevant to this threat at all. Ohno 'overreacted', whether one agrees or not I will leave that up to you. Ohno and the Korean skaters were practically on top of each other, not even considering whether one was fouling or not.
No one got in Kramer's way (well except his coach but they are on the same side) nor did Lee somehow tried to distract Kramer.
Hence the stories of Lee and Ohno are NOT in the same league.
ANYONE, whether of Korean ancestry or not, can make such statements without someone trying to bring it down as if it was made by someone who's not qualified to make such statements.
So JOHNT, so what if I'm a gyopo draft dodger but than maybe because I was born in ROK and brought to US against my wishes, when I was like 6 months old? Is that my fault? I assume you served in US military, it's great. I think you will go further in life if you stick to the topic at hand and facts, not assumptions when debating…
6:53 am on February 24th, 2010 8
This is one more episode of the adventures of Captain JohnnyT against monsters Koreans and their evil hypocrisy.
Go captain JohnnyT !!! The world is a better place because of you !!!!
7:05 am on February 24th, 2010 9
Is he really a captain in the US army by any chance?
7:23 am on February 24th, 2010 10
Before you even had your post up, I had a response to some of this (see here):
No doubt some will see hypocrisy in Lee happily accepting this gold medal, but I don't think it is, for a variety of reasons. First, Lee Seunghoon was not (to my knowledge) one of those saying Ohno was undeserving. Second, Lee Seunghoon was not instrumental in Mr Kramer getting disqualified in the way that Ohno was instrumental in getting Kim Dongsung disqualified so he could win the gold in 2002. Rather different cases, methinks.
The cases are very different, and even Mr Kramer (who did win a different gold) knows that. If there are parallels to anything, it's the way Mr Kramer and Kim Dongsung (who was disqualified after coming in first in 2002) handled themselves immediately thereafter, though I am forgiving of both, all things considered.
7:29 am on February 24th, 2010 11
"I was born in ROK and brought to US against my wishes, when I was like 6 months old? "
At 6 months old, about the only wishes you could express were about food, sleep, or a diaper change.
7:35 am on February 24th, 2010 12
Where are all of the Dutch apologists to battle this out with the Korean apologists? I can hear it now- "Dutch athlete perfect, everyone hate us", and "Netherlands food perfect" and "Denmark belongs to Netherlands" and "All foreigners evil, Dutch perfect"
8:17 am on February 24th, 2010 13
I don't think "most" competitors siding with the Koreans. Most of them were neutral, if I recall correctly. You never know when you might benefit from similar calls.
But yes, the dutch qualification is nothing like the Ohno incident.
8:43 am on February 24th, 2010 14
No way, a real army captain wouldn't waste his time trolling here.
8:54 am on February 24th, 2010 15
There is no difference, the Korean doesn't deserve the gold medal or maybe he deserves the Gold medal and so did Ohno when the Korean was disqualified. It is amazing how the Korean mind works like a circle jerk.
9:00 am on February 24th, 2010 16
SONAGI,
I just used it as an example. Even if a teenager immigrated to US following his parents, no one can call him a gyopo draft dodger.
9:30 am on February 24th, 2010 17
@TYPO
Run-on sentence there.
I guess you were trying to say
"The Korean doesn't deserve the gold medal in 10,000M Speed Skate of 2010 Olympics. If you believe he deserves it, you should also agree that Ohno deserved the gold medal in 2002 when the Korean was disqualified."
9:31 am on February 24th, 2010 18
Yes, they were indeed different cases. Kramer didn't break the rules in a way that affected another player, he just broke the rules and the next competitor in line benefited. Kim, on the other hand broke the rules by-way-of directly hindering a competitor.
In one case, Lee benefits from a major mental lapse on the part of Kramer. Too bad for Kramer, great win for Lee. In the other, Ohno benefits from the judges' recognition that Kim's action prevented a fair race for his competitors. Creep got what he deserved.
Right, not the same at all.
9:34 am on February 24th, 2010 19
You sound like a typical Korean American who claims their side to be whichever gives them the most benefit. You may have been brought to America by your parents but I bet you are a bandwagon jumper depending on what country gives you the most.
national pride? yea right. Sounds like you and Tom have lost your identities.
9:34 am on February 24th, 2010 20
@TYPO
The 2 are very different circumstances.
Do you see any Dutch calling Lee of Korea a dirty player or claiming that Lee reacted as if he was fouled by the Dutch skater, thereby influencing the judges to DQ the Dutch skater?
9:41 am on February 24th, 2010 21
@TYPO
Rest assured that I am secure about my identity. Unlike you who somehow feels like he has to attack Korean/Korean-American/etc to feel like he's something.
9:47 am on February 24th, 2010 22
That's your answer? you better look a little deeper that than. So what are you?
9:53 am on February 24th, 2010 23
So's the Canadian who pushed Ohno from behind that Ohno couldn't get the gold he thought he had. What a creep. At least he didn't even the top 3, whther DQed or not.
9:55 am on February 24th, 2010 24
I wonder W.W.A.D (What Would Anthon Do?) in this case?
10:06 am on February 24th, 2010 25
Let me type that into babelfish real quick and get back to you…word salad?
10:26 am on February 24th, 2010 26
@MRCHIPS
Excuse for my typos but I'm with you man!
10:54 am on February 24th, 2010 27
The appropriate reaction would be if Koreans stood up in mass and agreed that Lee didn't win the gold, he was just handed the medal as happened to Ohno. This is because Koreans all agree that that a fall or DQ invalidates the medals of people who were behind.
I won't hold my breath.
12:11 pm on February 24th, 2010 28
Yes, that's my answer. I'm better than someone who feels secure by attacking others with assumptions. As you can see in my previous posts here, I don't attack (and I don't think I 'attack' but debate) others without stating facts that everyone can see/agree on.
12:16 pm on February 24th, 2010 29
My post earlier in case you missed it.
"Do you see any Dutch calling Lee of Korea a dirty player or claiming that Lee reacted as if he was fouled by the Dutch skater, thereby influencing the judges to DQ the Dutch skater?"
12:33 pm on February 24th, 2010 30
I'm sure you are secure John, thanks for the Oprah Winfrey moment.
1:46 pm on February 24th, 2010 31
"Ohno´s Gold medal was controversial …"
It was only controversial in South Korea. Fact is, people are disqualified all the time in short track for the same offense as that of the South Korean skater. More often than not, skaters aren't disqualified because they've lost the race, as was the case of a South Korean who used his arm to block a Canadian skater at these Olympics.
1:48 pm on February 24th, 2010 32
What, South Korea disqualified? Oh the irony here… This time it will be the refs fault or someone else’s…
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/02/24/356662/apo…
1:50 pm on February 24th, 2010 33
Good point. Kramer has proven himself to be a jerk in several interviews…but he didn't throw his own country's flag on the ice as Kim Dongsung did (not sure I'd be as quick to excuse him as you are if I were Korean).
1:52 pm on February 24th, 2010 34
The Dutch government has just announced that it will put Gus Hiddink in jail until the South Korean team returns the medal.
1:55 pm on February 24th, 2010 35
He wasn't disqualified since he finished behind the Canadian. Learn to read, will ya.
Oh, and nice try…I'm not American.
2:12 pm on February 24th, 2010 36
I wasn't disagreeing with you I was adding to your post, the link is for the South Korean Womens team that were disqualified today…
3:28 pm on February 24th, 2010 37
[...] reading here: Lee Seung-hoon Wins Olympic Skating Gold After Disqualification of … Share and [...]
3:43 pm on February 24th, 2010 38
There's another controversy involving the Korean female short track skaters.
6:40 pm on February 24th, 2010 39
Thank you for all the links to the athletes and the medals. It would be useful if you also linked to the original story that you are quoting from. Thanks.
8:59 pm on February 24th, 2010 40
They are now threatening to sell Gus Hiddink to the Japanese national soccer team.
10:40 pm on February 24th, 2010 41
Can someone explain that to me?
Because I watched the race, and Lee was one Lap ahead of the dutch guy?
Maybe there is something I don't understand in the rules?
12:03 am on February 25th, 2010 42
My apologies, that was an oversight on my part, the link has been added.
8:01 am on February 25th, 2010 43
Maybe you saw another Dutch guy. I think Kramer skated with Skobrev (a Russian).