| Timing schandal |
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| Monday, 19 November 2007 | |
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There have been problems with the timing system in Calgary last weekend. Not visible when two skaters cross the line with a gap between them, but visible in close races. (This article was only available for people logging in, but we think it's important to have it public for a while)
The consequences were visible in full proportion in the 1000m pair Simon Kuipers/ Shani Davis. Visibly for everyone, still visible in the replays from every angle, Kuipers passed the line before Davis did, with both feet firmly on the ice. The way he was gliding it was absolutely physically impossible to lift the foot off the ice. Because of this, the time was corrected to 0.01 faster than Shani Davis' 1:07.40. This brought Kuipers on the podium, and he was there, to receive his award. But after that, the main referee Jim McClement reversed the decision to correct the time, and Kuipers was put back to place five, with the initial 1:07.42, while Shani Davis and Kyou-Hyuk Lee shared 1:07.40. His argument: "Our conclusion was that Kuipers’ skate was above the line and that the timing was the second skate. We referees have agreed that the tip of the skate has to cut the beam. It’s clear that the second skate hit the beam, not the first one." This decision cannot be correct. The images that exist show that Kuipers is faster than Davis. But it is understandable, because if the referees in one occasion admit that the timing was not correct, then everybody else starts doubting his or her time. Earlier, Margot Boer and Heike Hartmann seemed to finish with a small difference in time, yet they were given the same time. And Ireen Wüst and Fei Wang was also a close race where the given times were strange, considered what was visible. After the races, Mr Jan Dijkema as ISU representative and head referee Mrs. Susan Sandvig-Shobe went into the television wagon to check the images. Mrs Shobe: " I could not see specifically why something would have gone wrong with the electronic timing. We have certification that the timing equipment was checked." Comment of coach Jac Orie: "If you see these images and say that it is not correct, you try to shuffle something under the carpet, to cover up something. The case of Wüst is the same as Kuipers’. It’s clear that they are afraid, that more times might be wrong. This is what sport is about, honest competing. This is deadly for the sport and the athletes. This can't be permitted." After long discussion behind closed doors, Dijkema compares with football referee decisions, and says that there is timing and there are images, and in the end it’s up to the referee to decide on the outcome. It is necessary that this should be investigated closely, to establish what happened, why it happened, and if the actual times can be deducted or not. There is nothing the skaters could have done differently to prevent this from happening. This level of unfairness is worse than skating on an outdoor rink. |