Joe Chacon's Blog
Once the shock of Michael Phelps failing to medal in the 400 IM subsided from Saturday, there was a new wave of attention directed to a nine year rule in gymnastics that prevents more than two participants from one country to advance to the All-Around Finals.
One of the favorites heading into the London Games in the Women's All-Around was USA's Jordyn Wieber. The 17-year-old from DeWitt, Michigan is the reigning World All-Around champion and finished fourth in qualifying on Sunday. The top 24 individuals advance to the finals, unless you have two other teammates who finish higher than you for the event.
That's exactly what happened to Wieber. She missed out on the second spot on her team by .233 points.
The Olympics are supposed to recognize the world's best athletes. If that is the case, then why is there a limitation on the number of athletes that can advance to the finals from one country? To put things in perspective, Ashleigh Brennan (AUS) advanced to the finals with a score of 54.232. That is nearly six full points lower than Wieber's score.
Ana Maria Izurieta (ESP) qualified for one of the four reserve spots with a 53.533 mark. Yes, the rules even prohibit Wieber from being a reserve.
Why is this rule in place?
The closest thing that first comes to my mind that resembles this is in Major League Baseball. For the All-Star Game the rules state that each team must be represented by at least one player. Remember Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher, Mike Williams? Well, for all but the three of you that do remember him, he was perhaps the worst All-Star of all time. In 2003 Williams was selected to the National League All-Star team with a 0-3 record to go along with a 6.29 ERA.
This is what I believe the Olympics are trying to accomplish. No, not the embarrassment of having Mike Williams in the All-Star Game, but rather the best chance to have the most countries participating in an event.
While the Olympics are about competition and showcasing the world's best athletes, it is also about bringing in a global audience for as many events as possible. For example, this "two person" limit allowed for Giulia Steingruber (SUI) to get in the finals of the event. Otherwise Switzerland would have not had a representative in the all-around final.
Granted, the US is not the only team with a gripe. Russia, Great Britain, and China all had to deal with the same thing on Sunday. One of their athletes had a top 24 score, but there were already two teammates ahead of them advancing to the finals.
I understand why this rule is in the Olympic Games, but I do not agree with it. There is no reason why an athlete should not advance to the finals if he or she obtains one of the top scores required (in this case a top 24 score).
Jordyn Wieber should be competing in the All-Around Final.
Do you agree with the rule in place that limits a country from only sending two athletes to the All-Around Final regardless of where they fall in the overall standings?
Joe Chacon is a Staff Writer for Operation Sports and a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JoeChacon.
# 2
kevin23 @ Jul 30
A rule like that shows that even the greatest sports competition that is supposed to be pure has been stained by rich people who don't care about us.
# 4
ajaxab @ Jul 30
One can disagree with the rule, but if it were changed, then we should expect that half or more of the competitors in the all-around will be Chinese by the 2024 Olympics. Then the complaints will come from those who believe that all countries should have a chance to have representatives and that the sport shouldn't be dominated by one country. It's really a no win for gymnastics.
This is the way it is for every sport though isn't it? Shouldn't someone like Joe Johnson have a chance to compete in the Olympics? Unfortunately, he's not better than the two or three best shooting guards in his own country, so he can't. He could easily make every other national team, but he can't beat the best in his own country so he stays home. The same thing applies to Wieber. It's tough, but it's reality.
This is the way it is for every sport though isn't it? Shouldn't someone like Joe Johnson have a chance to compete in the Olympics? Unfortunately, he's not better than the two or three best shooting guards in his own country, so he can't. He could easily make every other national team, but he can't beat the best in his own country so he stays home. The same thing applies to Wieber. It's tough, but it's reality.
# 5
THE YAMA @ Jul 30
Doesn't make the most sense to only allow to competitors from each country advance. In swimming you can have as many as you can advance to the medal rounds based on overall time.
# 6
scottyo60 @ Jul 30
All I can say is, rules are in place and she knew them going in. Be the best and win. Clearly that night two people on her own team were better than her.
# 7
ajaxab @ Jul 30
@THE YAMA
Your point about swimming is only true to a degree. Swimmers still have to qualify in their national qualifying tournaments. A country can't have as many swimmers as they want at the Olympics based on overall time. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that there are American swimmers sitting at home who can swim faster than 30-50% of the Olympic field. But they can't beat the likes of Lochte, Phelps, Vollmer, Franklin, etc. so they end up staying home even though they might be better than swimmers from many other countries.
It's unfortunate for these swimmers just like it's unfortunate for Wieber, but the Olympics are designed so that there aren't 8 Americans or 8 Australians in an Olympic swimming final or 14 Chinese and 10 Americans in an all-around gymnastics final. It might not necessarily be fair, but it makes the Olympics more global. That isn't good for really talented people like a Joe Johnson or a Wieber, but it is good for the global growth of the sports in which they compete.
Your point about swimming is only true to a degree. Swimmers still have to qualify in their national qualifying tournaments. A country can't have as many swimmers as they want at the Olympics based on overall time. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that there are American swimmers sitting at home who can swim faster than 30-50% of the Olympic field. But they can't beat the likes of Lochte, Phelps, Vollmer, Franklin, etc. so they end up staying home even though they might be better than swimmers from many other countries.
It's unfortunate for these swimmers just like it's unfortunate for Wieber, but the Olympics are designed so that there aren't 8 Americans or 8 Australians in an Olympic swimming final or 14 Chinese and 10 Americans in an all-around gymnastics final. It might not necessarily be fair, but it makes the Olympics more global. That isn't good for really talented people like a Joe Johnson or a Wieber, but it is good for the global growth of the sports in which they compete.
# 8
galerus @ Jul 30
World Champ? Ah, that must "win" in last fall competition, after which two judges were disqualified and banned from Olympics for robbing Russian Komova from championship? Wieber not qualifying for Olympics finals is just a fair price for last year's unfair "win".
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# 9
seventwenty3 @ Jul 30
Wrestling only allows one guy from each country in each weight class even come to the Olympics. The only reason this was posted is because an American didn't get in, too bad.
# 10
Rhouston @ Jul 30
What an ignorant thing to say...
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# 11
dboyswitten82 @ Jul 30
This rule makes no sense. But everyone has to have a chance now a days so someone will get the short end of stick like she did and the other women who should have been in the finales. And doesn't that make the finals a little more boring in a sense? All of those women who should have went have been replaced by people who weren't even close to getting in by just their score. Since the best of the best are not in the finales we arn't going to be able to see the competition at its fullest.
# 12
Dogslax41 @ Jul 30
The United States led the charge for this rule to be put in place back in 2003 when the Romanians were dominating the medal stand. Now we are all up in arms simply because it didn't go our way. It's one or the other but the outrage being shown now makes us look rediculous as a country.
# 13
DubTrey1 @ Jul 30
Rules are rules. Be better than the other 2 on your team in order to compete. We all can't be on the podium. Other countries have to play by the same rules, so I am fine with it.
# 14
seventwenty3 @ Jul 30
No it's true, if this were any other country with three girls it doesn't get posted.
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# 15
Dogslax41 @ Jul 30
Just look back to the olympics. The Ksenia Afanasyeva qualified 6th overall and did not compete in the overall. Care to take a guess why not. Because she was the third ranked Russian. Where was the outrage and the public cries of injustice? Certainly not present in the US media. Oh by the way Afanasyeva watched the girl that got in that she beat by three and a half points come in last place. But you don't remember hearing about her do you.
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This is the Olympics. There team is there, but for the individual all-around the top 24 should qualify. If that means its 3 people from the top 8 countries, so be it. To not have the 2011 World Champion in the Olympic final is a shame. She finished with the 4th overall score.
Here's to hoping she can rebound and have a scorching performance to during the team all-arounds.