Alicia Sacramone cheated?

Question

Was Alicia Sacramone cheated out of a medal? Is anyone else confused about how Fei Cheng slipped past her with a landing on her knees? I don't know a lot about how they judge, but to my eye it was obvious who vaulted better - and she didn't get a medal!

Answer 1

Cheng Fei's difficulty was higher.  

Answer 2

Of course she was cheated! She should have gotten the bronze medal to at least redeem herself. But I do disagree on the way people are saying the chinese judges are favoring china. The rules of the olympics state that no judges are allowed that are from the same country that is competing. Which could lead to inexperienced judges. But I do Believe that china was bribing the judges in this case. I'm chinese and I'm pissed off at china! USA USA! Plus I love Alicia.

Answer 3

No she was not cheated out of a medal. A clean landing DOES NOT mean everything and it certainly does not equal a medal win. It's the level of difficulty that matters that 'caused Cheng Fei to propelled her score above Alicia Sacramone.

And that coach people are talking about...Bela Karolyi? He's so biased. Of course he's pissed and believes the US got ripped off, his wife Marta Karolyi is the girl gymnastics' U.S. National Team Coordinator.

Answer 4

Yes, my friend, Alicia was cheated out of a medal. More particularly the bronze.

Good luck

Answer 5

I think she should've had a better score. Some judges may be a little bias but, you can find that anywhere (sadly.)

Fei Cheng may have had a higher start value but she took a big step and then fell and clearly should've had a little more of a deduction. Oh well

                  ~AtA~

Answer 6

Yes.  

Answer 7

Even before the event started, I already knew that Alicia was going to be cheated.  It was obvious that the Chinese were getting scores that they didn't deserve.

Answer 8

I believe she was.  Yes the Chinese girl's routine had a higher difficulty but the fact that she didn't complete it deserved a much lower score.  The fact that she landed on her knees tells me she didn't get into the position she should have been at to perform the landing.  I think the new scoring system is bogus, yes basing scoring off of difficulty is a step forward, but it shouldn't have that detrimental an effect on a score.  If that routine was done four years ago it would have only gotten a 6.5-7.0 at best.  Even with her first routine which probably would have scored a 9.0-9.4 it would have averaged to a 8.2, while Alicia's Vaults both would have been solid 8.4-8.7's but because of the new scoring faults aren't causing as much change in scoring as they once were.  The fact that the difficulty score is set before the routine is done is odd to me.  I mean a gymnast can say they are going to do a wondrous routine but if they can't pull through they don't lose points.  I believe that the difficulty score needs to be changed to allow for adjustments should the gymnast fail to perform the routine as specified, that means that errors such as not getting a full twist and not landing on your feet would be scored double, one for difficulty, and two for execution.  What that routine showed to the world was "hey its better to ramp up the difficulty because even if you botch it, your still going to get a better score than a better executed 'simple' routine".

Answer 9

Half the Chinese team shouldn't have even been there.

Three of the Chinese girls were underage. Earlier this year, they told the Chinese press they were born in 94 (two of them) and 96 (the other one). And they also laughed about the govt. giving them fake passports.

China has a long history of cheating both with age requirements and judging. The IOC has already taken several of their medals away in the past and I'm sure they will be taking at least two more of them for gymnastics alone in the near future.

Answer 10

It was obvious that the Chinese were given much higher scores than they deserved, the entire time.

Answer 11

Yes. She was. You could see in her face that she knew she deserved that medal. Alicia didn't really do anything super-spectucalur, but she did better than Fei Chung. That dissappointed me too. She fell right on her knees.. I'm soo dissappointed. The Chinese have been breaking some rules apparently...

Answer 12

but you also have to take into account the difficulty is much higher on fei's vault, thats the thing about the new scoring system. your difficulty can be low and do a perfect routine but you can equal someone who's difficulty is high and make a mistake. also there are 2 vaults so you have to take the average of both.

Answer 13

I know close to nothing about gymnastics, but I could definately see that those judges made a grave mistake! I can't believe it!

Answer 14

your eye is nothign compared to the judges

Answer 15

I know!  Even that coach, I'm not even going to try to say his name, said that he thought it was a "rip-off!"  I'm not sure if it was the Chinese or that the scoring system failed.

Answer 16

No. Cheng Fei's level of difficulty was much higher than Alicia's. Alicia's performance might of looked better just because her landing was good, but her vaulting was nothing really that special. If she increased her difficulty and stuck her landing as she did then she could've won. Also, keep in mind the new scoring system favours difficulty. And Cheng Fei did amazing on her first vault so it all averages out.

Answer 17

Cheng fei did get the score she deserved. She had the 2 higher start scores, alicia only had the 5.8 and 6.3 start scores (difficulties) You people really should learn the new scoring system.

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing...

“The difficulty of the two vaults added up together was a huge difference between third and fourth place,” he said. “(Cheng’s) execution scores were as low as 8.5, which tells me that the necessary deductions were made. It might look strange at first sight, but if you look at the rules and the regulations, everything is as it should be.”

Answer 18

No.You should learn first judging system before complaining. She did a much easier routine than the Chinese which matters a lot. Chang Fei did a lot of twisting while Alicia's was very simple. Clean landing is not everything, besides Alicia's landing wasn't that clean either. You earn a lot of points if you do difficult routine.

Commentators are so biased esp. that Bela guy coz he is the Manager of US gymnastics team.

Answer 19

Man the Chinese are totally ripping off everyone in these olympics.

Larissa stop spamming. Secondly what kind of gymnast falls on her knees? That should already indicate a loss right there. yest she still gets a 15? now that is rigged.

Answer 20

yes she was. i dont care fei's higher start value. she landed straight on her knee. not even close to a normal land. alicia deserved the bronze