Given the recent events during the Olympics, we can all recall some pretty memorable and emotional moments. However, you typically don’t hear a lot about the devastating stories that occur. I’m not sure how many people heard of this, but South Korea had one of those devastating moments during their women’s fencing semifinals. Shin A Lam was pretty much set with a Gold medal by only needing not to be hit for one second. But because the referee, some fifteen year old kid, flagged to continue the match without knowing the clock hadn’t start yet, Shin’s opponent, Germany’s Britta Heidemann, had more than enough time to strike her and win the match. Obviously, the Korean team went for an appeal, leaving Shin at the competing area, collapsed in tears. What’s worse is that, even after a half-hour wait, Shin was denied the appeal. She was so dismayed by the decision that security had to escort her from the piste, the play field for fencers. What’s worse is that during her bronze medal match, she practically gave up any hope for winning and lost to Yujie Sun of China. To add insult to injury the IOC attempted to give a “consolation medal” for their B.S. decision to refuse Korea’s appeal. On a brighter note, she won silver for the women’s team final. It just seems sad to know that the International Olympic Committee would allow volunteer that would possibly cause such an disastrous error to these Olympians who work so hard to win gold.
