Do you think Phelps won or lost the last race??

Question

It SURRREEEE looked like he touched the wall 2nd... but I might be wrong. Is there any underwater video available to watch.

Did you see it?? Who do you think touched first??? :P

Answer 1

definitely Phelps but it was CLOSE

Answer 2

He won, judges reviewed it in slow motion

Answer 3

The touch pads are incredibly sensitive, down to microseconds. And no there isn't enough water pressure to trigger the touchpad, It's a sensor, a thin sheet of air, and the plastic outside. your hand presses against the air and touches the touchpad, but the water isn't able to penetrate it enough to trigger it.

It was an amazing race, but Phelps barely won.

Answer 4

won,apparently he has the power...

Answer 5

gotta go with phelps. that one last half stroke he got in really helped him. but what a race!

Answer 6

They go by the sensor on the wall, so I'm pretty sure he won. I think the difference is that he came down off a stroke and hit the top of the sensor, while the other guy poked it straight on. So it looks like he hits the wall later, but he actually hits the sensor earlier.

Answer 7

i think he won

There is an under water photo on cnnsi.com (its on the homepage). From the looks of it, it looks like phelps' right hand was pushed against the wall and the other guy isnt really touching it at all (he is really close though) Plus, they even looked at it frame by frame, every 1/100 of it. Things can look different in slow motion and super slow motion.

by the way, the swimmer didnt even challenge it. the coaches challenged it. he even said this: "From the heart, I'm really enjoying this," he said. "I'm not about fighting it. I'm not angry at all."

Answer 8

The Serb guy is unquestionable faster but Phelps unquestionably won.

Answer 9

They have sensory pads on the walls that list the times the athletes touch the wall. They also have underwater cameras.

- Pepper.

Answer 10

High speed cameras show he won.  No doubt he won, he won via cameras and sensors so there was  no doubt.

Answer 11

With that margin, there is absolutely no way you could tell who touch first or second just by watching video - especially the regular TV feeds. I believe all lanes are equipped with touch sensors which stop the clock when touched.

When I watched the race it certainly looked like the other guy touched first, but when they slowed it down to super slow motion, you can see the other guy sort of coasting to the wall while Phelps is still powering in. They show Phelps' arms coming around and coming to the finish position at virtually the same time as the other guys.

For what it's worth, regular TV video is broadcast at 30 frames per second (actually it's 29.97 FPS, but 30 is close enough) - or one frame every .0333 seconds. Phelps won by .01 seconds. So unless they used a high speed camera or got lucky with the timing of the video, you would see one frame with both of them short of the wall and the next frame would show both touching the wall. In between you would not see who touched first. I would also add that even with high speed cameras, it would likely have to be positioned directly under both athletes to be able to tell 100% for sure.

EDIT

According to this article on nbcolympics.com, they have video that clearly shows Phelps winning. They also state that Serbian officials were shown the video and decided not to pursue the protest. Even Cavic said "if it was up to me, I would just drop the protest".

http://www.nbcolympics.com/swimming/news...

Answer 12

Omega has special detection on the wall of the swimming pool so Phelps win and that loser Serbia is a sore loser for the ridiculous protest.

Answer 13

I disagree with all these people they seem like they're caught up in phelps mania but it does look like some sort of equipment malfunction

I saw the Serb's hand with no motion between at least 2 frames while phelps's arms were still in the air.

It was contested but it was not reviewed. Now it never will be and will always be controversial. Bad decision not to review.

In any case, the serb deserved to win. It was a stroke of luck for phelps that he chose to coast that last meter or two instead of taking another stroke. If he had, phelps would have been beat definitively. btw that dude was FAST. give him credit, nobody else has that kind of raw speed.

Saying "technology doesn't lie" is a dodge of the basic fact that touch-pads don't provide a definitive snapshot of the finish. It's not like the finish of the 100, which is taped on a special clock-run film that shows each runner's silhouette at the exact hundredth of a second they crossed, and even shows who was first if 2 of them tie. There's no photo in the touch pads. I don't know how well they're tested but they're clearly not designed with 10 millisecond differences in mind. Relying on electronic devices in 2 different locations to get that right without any latency error is silly. It takes 10 milliseconds for data to get from your pc to your router. The timer is farther away from the touch pads than that. Considering the latency might be different for each sensor, error is possible.

Could it be that they were touched at exactly the same time, but showed a difference because they were at different distances from the timer, bringing network latency into play?

Particularly since a difference of .01 seconds could be produced by a mere 5 milliseconds of lag, rounded up to the nearest hundredth.

Answer 14

since there is now way to humaly tell, we and the judges had to trust the electronic timing. i also think it was correct and phelps did win

Answer 15

he won technology doesn't lie

Answer 16

Honestly guys who is going to be the one to take away the medel from him. The **** would hit the fan and american well declear war on the IOC.

Guys they had the IOC change the swimming times so they can watch him in prime time TV. Didnt worry about the other countries who wanted to be able to watch their swimmers proform. Im in australia and have miss the swimming due to it being on in the day and having to work & study. In australia we always watch the swimming at night time here.

but guys honestly who is going to say no to him.He is an amazing swimmer i give him that but remember America is never wrong. All u need is power and money. They claim the chinese cheated in the gymnastic's Y cause american lost.

Gotta remember whats good for america is only good for them not any1 else.

They are just cheats if they lose

Answer 17

it loooks like he got 2nd cuz he came over the water and touched it but he touched the sensor on the wall right b4 the other guy

Answer 18

he touched the wall at the top so it looked like he was second

Answer 19

Come on Dixon.... do you know how many times they replayed it!! ? LOL. he won no question about it!!

Answer 20

It was contested and reviewed.  There are cameras directly over the finish that record the touch and they watched it frame by frame and ruled the electronic device that records the first touch and never lies, was in fact correct.  the margin was so tiny (.01 sec,)  that it would be difficult for us to  decide otherwise just by watching the camera angle provided.

Edit:  For Kozzm0   It was announced on TV (NBC) that the video from cameras above the finish line were reviewed frame by frame and FINA rejected the protest after watching the replays.  

"The Serbs, according to an official, were also placated having had the opportunity to access the same information available to the referee."

"Under our rules we do listen to protests. We looked at video footage and it was very clear the Serbian swimmer touched second, after Phelps. One was stroking and one was gliding.

"Two independent timing systems showed exactly the same on the time. Phelps was 50.58, Cavic was 50.59. The automatic timing systems are in perfect order and there are no doubts."    http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/national-... You can find it on many sites if you google it.

Answer 21

he won it.  it is all electronically judged

Answer 22

He won.  There are cameras and the touch pad on the wall.

Answer 23

some sports commentators are saying that Cavic must not have touched the wall hard enough ,so the touch pads didnt sensed his arrival..however i kinda believed it.i watched the slow mo..and my honest thought,no bias,is he was slower