<p>Isn’t the event called the All-around? Doesn’t that mean how well the athlete does on all the apparatus, not just on 3 of them? Other sports award 2 medals when there are ties, so I don’t understand how the IOC allows such differences between sports in how they handle ties.</p>
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<p>No, as in three kids getting the same score.</p>
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<p>Excellent point.</p>
<p>But I do console myself on all of the rules issues by telling myself that at this level, the competitors know the rules, and still desire to compete. (Back when older D did competitive dance, the judging was so subjective and nuts that you couldn’t even get worked up about placement.)</p>
<p>Wouldn’t it be wild if in soccer, for example, instead of having a shootout to break a tie, they look at who scored first, or something else related to earlier performance? Or in basketball, no OT, but fewest number of fouls, or most 3 point shots?</p>
<p>I’m so glad that I was a swim and XC/track parent! None of that subjective crap, just the touchpads, stopwatches, etc.</p>
<p>Anthony Ervin - :eek:</p>
<p>AND!!! Rebecca gets the GOLD with another WR, and Julia gets the BRONZE!!! YAY!!!</p>
<p>^^ Bunsen- there is still a subjective element in swimming as we saw last night with the disqualification of the one swimmer (Korean???) for an improper touch or something. I officiated and it could be a really close call whether a swimmer screwed up something on one of the strokes such as swimming too far into the wall on the stomach in backstroke instead of just flip turning. It made me nervous.</p>
<p>Yes, of course, it is also present in XC/track, but much less so than in gymnastics or figure skating - it is used to DQ athletes, not for scoring purposes. As I recall, a DQ in swimming had to be signed off by 2 officials.</p>
<p>OK, so Lochte will swim his 200 IM almost right after getting the bronze in the 200 back. I did not watch - did he look like he was saving energy for his upcoming epic battle with Phelps?</p>
<p>missing the race…buffering</p>
<p>Phelps!!! Lochte silver!!</p>
<p>Yesss! Good job, guys! Phelps gets his bling! :)</p>
<p>Good outcome. Too bad I missed it! I guess NBC streaming can’t keep up with the millions that wanted to watch.</p>
<p>Dag nabbit NBC! So much for “real time”!</p>
<p>The DQ last night of the Austrian guy was ridiculous. On the breastroke you are allowed to take one dolphin or downward kick off the wall, however you must start your arm pull which has been defined as your hands moving apart or down. Given how quick these guys are moving, it’s nearly impossible, plus they didn’t call it at all in either breastroke event, although the convential wisdom in swim official circles is the Kitijima of Japan is always guilty. On the replay of the underwater camera it looked to me like his hands were moving. </p>
<p>I’ve never made that call in 3 years of officiating. I have my hot buttons, but that one is very hard to call.</p>
<p>A swim DQ has to be made by the official with jurisdiction for that lane or by the head referee. If it’s the lane official, he/she has to describe the reason they are recomending the DQ to the chief judge, who then agrees/disagrees to accept the call. The words the official uses are key to convincing the CJ to accept the call.</p>
<p>I missed it. Phelps and Lochte went 1-2?</p>
<p>Oh, and I agree the DQ last night was insane. What an idiotic move!</p>
<p>Yes, Phelps / Lochte 1-2</p>
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They are coaches shouting encouragement according to BBC (may or may not be correct, but they love rowing here).</p>
<p>I’ve been to rowing and swimming so far. It’s crazy.</p>
<p>Cupcake - Like Crazy = Fun/Exciting???</p>
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<p>Interesting. I never knew that. Apparently a gold medal comes with a $25K honorarium, $15K for silver, and $10K for bronze. Plus, the IRS says the medal itself is taxable; current commodity price of a gold medal is $675, silver is $382, and bronze is $5 (well, it is just bronze, after all).</p>
<p>But let’s see. Gabby Douglas has two gold medals, so that’s $50K in honoraria, plus the value of the medals, so $51,350 in taxable income, right? I have no idea what tax bracket she’s in, so lets assume it’s the top bracket of 35%. That would be a tax bill of $17,972.50. Ouch! where’s a teenage girl going to get $17,972.50 to pay those “punitive” taxes, as Sen. Marco Rubio (who’s introducing a bill to exempt Olympic earnings from income taxation) calls them?</p>
<p>Oh, I know! How about she takes the $18K out of the $50K she just won, leaving her about $32K in after-tax income? I.e., suppose she does it just like the rest of us? Of course, if she’s in a lower marginal tax bracket, she’d pay less in taxes. On the other hand, as twice-over Olympic gold medalist in women’s gymnastics, you’d think she might be able to pick up an endorsement here or there. Maybe get her picture on the Wheaties box or appear in a TV commercial or two. So maybe she’ll end up in that top tax bracket after all and (horrors!) need to pay 35% in taxes on her new-found millions in earnings, leaving her . . . mere millions in after-tax income.</p>
<p>I dunno. Somehow I think she doesn’t need to worry too much about how she’s going to pay her taxes, as a little basic arithmetic would quickly tell her. Maybe someone should tell Marco Rubio.</p>
<p>And what about the gold medalists in less lucrative sports? They don’t all earn millions.</p>
<p>The splits were crazy. As advertised, it was a race between the 2 of them. I’m impressed with Phelp’s breast split, as that’s his weakest stroke and it was 2nd fastest of the group. </p>
<p>Butterfly Backstroke Breaststroke Freestyle Time </p>
<p>●1 USA United States Michael Phelps 24.63 28.63 33.33 27.68 1:54.27
●2 USA United States Ryan Lochte 24.79 29.10 33.48 27.53 1:54.90
●3 HUN HungaryLaszlo Cseh 25.03 29.82 33.11 28.26 1:56.22
4. BRA BrazilThiago Pereira 25.20 28.39 33.70 29.45 1:56.74
5. JPN JapanKosuke Hagino 25.83 29.13 34.32 28.07 1:57.35
6. JPN JapanKen Takakuwa 25.49 29.84 34.47 28.73 1:58.53
7. GBR BritainJames Goddard 25.16 29.07 34.80 30.02 1:59.05
8. GER GermanyMarkus Deibler 25.03 30.90 33.62 29.55 1:59.10</p>
<p>W’s 100 free final is over. No medals for the US, but the girl with the interesing last name won, with an Olympic record. The second place finisher (also with a funny last name) is pretty - not how I pictured her. :)</p>
<p>If they’re getting a cash prize worth $X what’s the problem with paying the taxes owed (based on their bracket) out of the $X they just received? No endorsements necessary to cover that.</p>