'Citius, Altius, Fortius' in Latin stands for faster, higher and stronger as the Olympics motto. It's essence is giving one's best and striving for personal excellence as a worthwhile goal. In all, this fairness is considered sacrosanct in the conduct of the Games itself.
Some incidents have violated the rules that seem to rob the spirit of the Asian Games 2014 currently underway in Incheon. What's more, decisions that seemed to favour the home team leaves a bitter taste to the hardworking athletes and the country that they represent. Judges and jury are present to uphold the fairness of the Games, irrespective of the country that hosts the Games.
First, in the Bantamweight 56kg category Mongolia boxer Tugstsogt Nyambayar was controversially ousted and South Korea's Sangmyeong Ham was declared the winner. Spectators who had witnessed the bout were clearly enraged as they thought that Nyambayar was a clear winner.
The Mongolian delegation was quick to file a complaint against the verdict. Mongolian chef-de-mission Badmaanyambu Beterdne reached the venue within minutes and launched a protest against the verdict. Mongolia have also lodged an official protest with International Boxing Association (AIBA) over Nyambayar's defeat. Mongolia for a while even considered withdrawing from the boxing competition at Incheon, so upset they were with the decision.
And there were two instances when India was involved and got the rought end of the decisions.
In the Women's 3000m Steeplechase, Bahrain's Ruth Jebet ran out of the track which is a clear foul even in school athletics event. Having noticed that Jebet had made an infringement, both Chinese and Indian officials protested and in normal circumstances the punishment is disqualification from the event and the other runners move up.
The judges found Bebet guilty of track infringement and the same was announced in the public address system to disqualify Jebet, which meant second-placed China's athlete Li Zhenzhu, third placed India's Lalita Babar and India's Sudha Singh, who came fourth, would have moved up. Since Jebet came first and was awarded gold, in the event of her disqualification the second and third winners naturally would have moved one level up.
But Bahrain lodged an appeal and a three-member jury comprising a Vietnamese, a Thai and an Iranian was formed to hear the protest. The jury, which studied the footage till the next morning, came out with a dumb-founding explanation. They said Jebet didn't gain any unfair advantage by her act and upheld her victory.
Whether Jebet gained an advantage fair or unfair was not even an issue. The prime issue was whether she broke the rule by running outside the track or not. If indeed she did, as the footage clearly showed, she had committed a foul for which disqualification was the only penalty. Although the rules state that a Jury's decision cannot be reversed, India's Chef-de-mission Adille Sumariwala vowed to take it up with Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).
The latest instance on Tuesday was even more baffling. Indian woman boxer Laishram Sarita Devi's semi-final bout against South Korea's Jina Park was so one-sidedly in the Indian's favour that it was considered a fairly straight-forward decision for judges to declare her the winner. But to Sarita's mortification and to the hundreds who watched the bout, the judges declared Jena Park as the winner.
It was not even a close fight, so any confusion in this regard should be ruled out. It was indeed perplexing why judges declared Park the winner when it was Sarita who clearly dominated the entire bout.
Miffed by the decision, India lodged a strong protest. But the protest was rejected by the jury.
Such instances mar the very spirit of the charter that guides the Games. It appears some other consideration is at play here and that would be very unfortunate if it is indeed so.
Senior officials have not been much of help to our athletes either. Those who were present at the venue seemed to have totally abrogated their responsibility. Even more infuriating is that Sarita, her husband and a journalist had to pool their money to raise the fine amount of $500 to lodge a protest. It is really deplorable to say the least.
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