Lapointe sisters take moguls one-two; Uemura 4th

I'm happy to see the sisters from my native country win gold and silver, but disappointed for Aiko Uemura.

How on earth did Uemura get less points than Kearney and lose the bronze? Kearney's run was awful and was sliding off the moguls unbalanced. So how could Kearney be awarded more points than Uemura? I get the impression that certain big-name stars are awarded a minimum number of points regardless of their (poor) performance. Watch the run again and then tell me it was worthy of an Olympic bronze medal.

I'm an American and I can say without the slightest bit of embarrassment that Uemura got hosed.

Kearney's run was off balance. She nearly fell. Her jumps were below par, and she was slower.

Hats off to Uemura for showing sportsmanship and not screaming "I got screwed!" at the top of her lungs. I know I would I would have been tempted to.

Well done to the awesome Canadian sisters, tough luck to Ms. Uemura. It looks like a taxing sport on the knees - will she hang around to have another tilt at the Gold in Pyeongchang in 2018 at 38 years of age? Lets hope so.

TigerTokyoDome: "I get the impression that certain big-name stars are awarded a minimum number of points regardless of their (poor) performance."

If that were TRULY the case, as many sore losers think, she would have been given at least the silver based on her star-power.

Amazing work by the sisters, though I feel a little bad for Maxime. I of course feel bad for Kearney, too, but the sisters had her beat fair and square, and bronze, especially after dominating the sport for so long, is nothing to balk at. And needless to say I feel bad for Uemura -- ending up fourth and just shy of the podium once has got to be nightmare enough, but twice?? It really leaves a bad taste in the mouth. I'm just glad she did her best.

smithinjapan:

sore losers

...a bit harsh for someone's opinion on a very subjective sport-- do you think?

Just watched it here in the States. Johnny Mosely was on the mic. After the gold medal winning run of the Lapointe sister, he actually commented that he thought it wasn't enough to go ahead of Uemura, who was leading at the time. ...so, if he was the judge, she may have won gold?...

Oh, by the way, noticed your posts on how Japan only shows Japanese competitors in the media. Over here, they don't even show it live. The only competitors they showed throughout qualifying were all the Americans and the two Canadians medalists. ...finally got a glimpse of Uemura in the final. ...and, the Japanese guy who made it into the slope style final never even got a second on screen here. ...just fyi...

't Was an exciting competition whose outcome was unfortunately not fair to Uemura. My friends and I were astonished that Kearney was awarded 3rd place. Even an amateur could see the latter botched it. But that's what you get when performances are judged with subjectivity mixed in.

slump: "...a bit harsh for someone's opinion on a very subjective sport-- do you think?"

If it were just an opinion, than I would agree -- same as people thumbing me down for my opinion on the matter. What I was saying is 'sore loser' is the fact that the poster implied it was her name that gave her the bronze instead of Aiko, and not her skill on the field. I suspect we'll hear a lot more of this as certain athletes barely lose out on getting a medal -- happens every time, in many countries. THAT is what is being a sore loser is. I wish Uemura had medalled, but it is what it is.

"...so, if he was the judge, she may have won gold?..."

Actually, you're just proving my point, really, save that I wouldn't call the commentator a poor loser. Conjecture by others is mostly bias. Now, if he had said Kearney should have had the gold and chided the Canadian sisters I would indeed have said poor loser.

"Oh, by the way, noticed your posts on how Japan only shows Japanese competitors in the media."

This is a Japan news site, on which, by the way, I HAVE indeed pointed out that other countries do the same, most notably the US. I still remember way back during the Atlanta Olympics... or maybe Barcelona... watching American coverage of events and in some cases when it was clear their athlete was out of the picture it would literally switch to something else, and the commentators would blame "the sun was shining directly on his swimming lane!" or something like that. I have never said Japan ONLY is guilty of bias, and have quite literally said all nations are more bias about their own athletes, but the media here is more guilty than others are narrowing down what is shown. Let's be serious... when the Japan team loses the hockey game against Sweden in an hour or so, how many hockey matches do you think will be shown? I understand the reasoning; I just don't think it's good that only one network has the rights to air the sports and leaves so many unaired.

presto: "But that's what you get when performances are judged with subjectivity mixed in."

And no subjectivity in your comment at all, I guess.

"Kearney's run was awful and was sliding off the moguls unbalanced. So how could Kearney be awarded more points than Uemura?"

The judging sucks.

Serrano: "The judging sucks."

Well, we know YOU are always objective, calling Kim Yu-Na "Queen Kim" when she wins and suggesting the judges are biased. So, um... take that 'judging sucks' part up to a mirror and see what you find.

BurakuminDes, indeed, it's very taxing on the knees. Mine are a testament to that, after competitive downhill in my youth. And having watched some replays of Uemura's and Kearney's runs, I have to agree that Uemura got screwed.

And so it appears that the general consensus here is that Kearney did not deserve to score more points than Uemura after so many mistakes. And thankfully DeShazo, Slump, Presto, Serrano, and Trevor appear to have witnessed exactly what I saw.

It is also unfortunate that the overwhelming opinion is positioned alongside a very well-known pro-Korean disliker of all things Japanese who is still permitted to troll on here. Kearney did not deserve to finish above Uemura, plain and simple and based on common sense. Sore loser?? So every time someone expresses an opinion regarding a poor sporting decision (the history of sport is littered with scoring mistakes) then they are immediately labelled a sore loser? Maybe you would give in far too easily and accept a wrong decision, but not me my friend, regardless of any Korean 'sore loser' jibes.

Well said, Tiger.

I saw this report on NHK's evening news. A lengthy report covered Uemura. But not a single mention was made of any of the (non-Japanese) competitors, including the ones who actually got medals. Weird.

JeffLee: So, ...change the channel. You have choices. You can even watch it live. This is Uemura's fifth Olymipics and she's finished the last two in fourth place. And, now she's retiring. Now, that's a story. If that doesn't deserve a "lengthy report", I don't know what does.

Here in the States, they don't show it live. On the official NBC broadcast, at the expense of the (non-American) competitors, they showed a report on one of the American slope style judges and her path to an Olympic snowboarding judge. She was an Olympian herself-- in gymnastics. Weird.

"JeffLee: So, ...change the channel. "

I did change the channel. Click, I saw a couple of buffoons hit each other on the head with inflatable hammers to the hilarity of all. Click, a cooking show, click another cooking show, click a double of dozen "talents" giving insightful opinions about snow, click a cooking show, click a gushing reporter being served tonkatsu in suburban Saitama, and so on and so on.

"You have choices"

And what fine choices they are.