Olympic Spoiler - She Lost the Gold!

[Mellow_Water1]

Spoiler in white:

Was anyone watching the Women's Snowboard Cross Event? Lindsey Jacobellis, the 20-year-old American was literally 140 feet ahead of the competition. Then at the very end, she glanced back at the HUGE gap there was between her and everyone else, touched her board on a jump (very unnecessary to win) and FELL! She grabbed the silver but *so* deserved the gold. I almost cried, and I've never seen her before in my life, so I can't even begin to imagine how she feels. This just goes to show the race ain't over til it's over.
:(

(I know this technically belongs in sports, but I figure not just hardcore sports fans watch the Olympics).

[Squee]

I was watching!! Absolutly crazy, I really couldnt belive it and it will definatly be on the news tonight!
I couldnt imagine how hard she would be kicking herself (cept seeing her bawling after it)

[Delta]

Yeah, I watched it. But I already knew what happened because everyone was talking about it all day today.

[BTB]

She grabbed the silver but *so* deserved the gold.

Well, while I do really feel sorry for her, it's a heavy price for an error in judgement made in a moment of fun and exuberance and celebration - she was showing off, she fell, she crossed the finish line second. So I can't say that she "deserved" gold.

[Mellow_Water1]

Well, of course. That's the point I think. I meant only that if it wasn't for that stupid little thing, she would have grabbed it and deserved it, being that far ahead. But I guess that's not what I said, now is it.

[isobel]

She says she was trying to stabilize herself and I want to believe her (though it looked like showboating). She still almost won.

[BTB]

That's what she said right away (the part about stabilizing herself) at the end of the course - but then she did a studio interview with Bob Costas and she admitted she looked back, saw her lead, and took a risk, which she said was a mistake.

If you look at the video, too, of her on that jump in the quarter- and semi-finals, it's just so obvious it's more than "stabilization". I'm glad she was honest about it in the end. I do feel badly for her, but IMHO the woman who did win gold deserved it.

[Mellow_Water1]

I saw that interview too, and admire that she was honest. With all the talk about it, it would really reflect badly if she wasn't. It was a mistake that could have easily been avoided, and for that she lost what she deserved for her athletic ability. Although I do agree that *technically* she did not deserve to win of course. I'm not saying that anyone stole it from her. IMO, anyway. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree about the semantics, BTB.

[BTB]

Little confused here... it's not a big deal, but I don't see where semantics comes into play. :confused: The first post said Jacobellis deserved to win, I posted I disagreed, I think if you take a gamble like that all bets are off and you deserve what you get as a result. The most recent post said technically she didn't deserve to win. So, it sounds like we're in agreement now - but my first post wasn't trying to be semantic. It seemed like a legit point to discuss, and I was killing time while DH cleaned up the kitchen. :cool:

[ejs]

It would have been nice if you would have 1) posted this in Sports and 2) posted "Spoiler" in your thread title. Those of us on the West Coast have not seen this event yet. And now we know what happens.

I hadn't heard anything about it because I make an effort to avoid results so I can see them during the broadcast.

I assumed you were talking about an event that everybody had already seen, such as something that had happened yesterday.

[Mellow_Water1]

Oh crap! I am so sorry to all those who haven't seen it! I will PM a mod right away about this. Again, I apologize. :(

[Mellow_Water1]

Little confused here... it's not a big deal, but I don't see where semantics comes into play. :confused: The first post said Jacobellis deserved to win, I posted I disagreed, I think if you take a gamble like that all bets are off and you deserve what you get as a result. The most recent post said technically she didn't deserve to win. So, it sounds like we're in agreement now - but my first post wasn't trying to be semantic. It seemed like a legit point to discuss, and I was killing time while DH cleaned up the kitchen. :cool:

I see your point. :) Clearly, it's time for me to go to bed. :p

[ejs]

We just saw it on the West Coast. Not sure if it's aired in Hawaii. :-)

[lawyerlee]

At first when I heard I was in total disbelief, but now I just feel bad for her - not because she lost the gold, but just because it is such an embarrassing mistake and such a publicly hard-learned lesson. It's still an amazing achievement to win the silver. I hope she isn't too hard on herself and just treats this as a learning experience. She's young (we all did stupid things at 20) and should have another chance at gold in Vancouver. :)

[Katy]

sorry about the delay in 1) moving and 2) changing the title. I was away all evening and didn't get the PM until just now (12:40am Pacific)

[Brandles]

I am SO glad I taped the early morning coverage--I watched it this morning! I feel bad for her--she made a snap decision to hot-dog it and paid for it. I'm sure she has learned a tough lesson. It's not over until you cross the finish line.