The Devil Is In The ...

... Irregularities.

One big question that comes to mind in this spat over the Taekwondo scandal is thus:

"Why didn't the referee let the match continue to the end and then cancel Yang's victory after an inquiry?"

This is the way it is done in nearly all international athletics.  Ben Johnson won on the day but later had his gold stripped after an inquiry.  What if someone had tried to stop him in the middle of his run on the 'suspicion' that he had doped?

Why couldn't they have waited until Yang finished her bout to determine whether or not she had cheated?.

As my good friend Ted said, this incident is a tragedy on an individual level for both Yang and her Chinese rival for the Gold.  Both have now missed out on the opportunity to fairly challenge each other based on the merits of their individual skills only.

I don't support any Korea baiting or abuse. I'm not sure who's right in this case. That said ... it smells very fishy and I suspect the hand of Chinese authorities being involved.

It's just all those damn 'irregularities' - don't they just make a great excuse? e.g. - "Oops, the police were not meant to beat you (on this one important occasion when it was vital that they behave themselves), but there was an irregularity on this one occasion only where they did.  They are not guilty because it was one individual's malfunction and misunderstanding.  The other cases of like incidents are entirely unrelated."