Why did Apolo Ohno get disqualified in the 500m?

Question

Why did Apolo Ohno get disqualified in the 500m?

Answer 1

Because the guy in front of Hamelin stubbled and thus impeaded him slowing him down and blocking him.



****** you people DO know that there are multiple judges/refs???



Rule 218

Duties of Track Officials

1. At ISU Championships and Olympic Winter Games there shall be two Track Officials at each curve who shall watch for any infringement of the Regulations by the Skaters and inform the Referee as soon as possible.

2. The Crossing Controller shall stay inside the inner track lane and check the correctness of the Skaters changing from one lane to the other.

Answer 2

Here's what happened at that final turn (and it all happens REALLY FAST):

1) Just as Apolo is starting his move up from fourth, the leader Si-Bak's right (outer) skate sideslips about six inches - this is the precipitating event that will eventually cause his fall. Notice his right hand immediately sweep down to touch the ice very briefly, attempting to restore the balance he is starting to lose.

2) Apolo continues his passing move, his skate pushing Tremblay's left (balance) hand, also putting a hand on Tremblay's hip and wedging into his lane just a little more than the space allows (remember, we're talking about a total surface contact area of a knife blade, and a likewise minimal balance tolerance).

3) Tremblay starts to fall.

4) Si-Bak still has his left hand - the inside hand they usually put down on the turns - on the ice, because he does not have the balance needed to lift it and start skating yet;

5) Hamelin's left hand is already off the ice and he starts his stride coming out of the turn, Si-Bak's hand now in the way of Hamelin's left skate as it comes forward.

6) Si-Bak loses his fight with gravity, his left skate shooting out as his left hand drags across Hamelin's right skate on its forward stride. The difference between this contact and Ohno contacting Tremblay, is that Ohno caused that, while Si-Bak, by falling, is responsible for blocking Hamelin who skates into him.

7) Hamelin flails and somehow maintains balance by translating the torquing of his skates, combined with his forward speed, into a turn that has him facing backward a moment after crossing the finish line.

9) Apolo crosses the line, more who-me than oh-no (sorry; but look at him).



BTW there are several judges involved in making decisions like a DQ, and anyone echoing Apolo's comment: "You know, it's the head Canadian referee out there and there were two Canadians in the race" is only displaying ignorance and bringing shame on themselves



That is what happened, i watched it over and over, at various speeds and frame by frame, because i wanted to know for myself that the jingoistic crap spouted by those of you who sound an awful lot like sore losers, was just that. Somebody even denied Apolo's comment. Lemme tell ya something:

moments after he said it, live, my mom called me from Pittsburgh (Go Steelers!), and asked if I had seen or heard it. She was shocked, because she's a fan and was disappointed that he didn't show more character than to stoop to such a cheap aside. We're Canadians, and proud of it - and you bet we want to win as many medals as we can, we want to win that hockey game on Sunday... but let's be good sports about it all, eh?

Answer 3

@Lil Wayne The Game T.I. GoCanada

Point well made and respected. This coming from an American.

Answer 4

The ruling was that Apolo Ohno caused Francois-Louis Tremblay's fall by pushing him...



I'm just stating the final official ruling...



However, I find that most people complaining do not understand the rules of speed skating.

1- When overtaking, the responsibility for any obstruction or collision shall be upon the skater overtaking, provided that the skater being overtaken does not act improperly.

2- A skater shall not deliberately impede or push another competitor with any part of his/her body, thereby gaining an advantage.

3- Any competitor who willfully impedes, improperly crosses the course of, in any way interferes with another competitor, or conspires with another to cause a race to result otherwise than on its merit, shall be disqualified.



The ruling was that Ohno violated the second rule by pushing/placing his hand/whatever on Tremblay, thereby gaining an advantage (i.e. skater fell, managed to steady himself)



These are the rules



http://www.osoinc.com/downloads/SportRules/SpeedSkating.pdf



Have a nice day



EDIT:

My, my xD... are we so quick to forget the 2002 Olympic Games held in Salt Lake Citu, USA, where an American judge DQ'd the Korean skater, thereby giving the gold medal to Ohno? Bet you didnt have the same logic back in '02



Thank you Levi C... Have a good day

Answer 5

It was a call by the judges. I guess they thought his touch caused the falls.

Answer 6

There's a lot of advantages to being American, but one of the many disadvantages is that everyone in the world will try to bring us down at any chance they get. This is another case of that. Apolo Ohno should not have been disqualified. Simple as that.

Answer 7

How did Apolo earn his gold in 2002 Winter Olympics? The korean who DID win gold got disqualified. Apolo got threats for winning his medal 'wrongly' and even refused to participate in the Worlds in the following months in 2002. If he knew he won fair and square, why did he pull out?



Apolo KNEW he did not win his 2002 gold fair and square - that's the conclusion.



Why didn't Americans complain then? They had an american referee there who disqualified the GOLD Korean medalist? Should the rest of the world be complaining like you guys are now?



Also, if you follow Apollo's career, you will realise he never really qualifies or wins fairly....it wins because skaters around him fall and he somehow advances. Nice defending champion, guys, someone who just capitalises on the misfortunes of others.



Karma will come back one way or another.....OHNO DESERVED TO BE DISQUALIFIED.

Answer 8

If you watch the replay, it's EXTREMELY obvious why he went down. He knew Apolo was passing him on the inside and needed to skate a tight line inside to hold him off. He had too much speed and couldn't skate a tight enough line inside, he was leaning over so bad to hold the inside line that the side of the boot of his skate hit the ice and caused the blade to lift off the ice and he went sliding. This slip occurs AFTER Ohno's hand was no longer touching him. It was a horrible call. And if you call Ohno for this why Hamelin wasn't for what he did to the Korean is an absolute JOKE.

Answer 9

just because the judge was canadian, it made it look like he disqualified apolo because he wanted his own country to win. but how do you know that's true???, you would make that assumption just because he was canadian...maybe apolo did push him, maybe he didn't, you don't know for sure because you aren't him or the judge. what actually happened may look totally different on t.v. so stop talking trash about him and canada! ! it's already over with. and i'm not saying this because i'm canadian, i'm just telling it like it is. stop being so selfish americans, you can't win at everything .....

Answer 10

Even Yahoo!, which has not missed a chance to criticize Canada since the Games began, says that Ohno was in the wrong, that the call was good, and that he's a boor for whining.



That ought to tell you something.



At btw, when you are going full tilt on ice, there's no such thing as "barely a touch"--even the slightest impact can send someone sprawling. Ohno knows the rules, and he has benefitted from similar calls that have gone in his favour.

Answer 11

To actually answer your question... Ohno's hand touched the skater and the skater fell right afterwards and clipping down the Canadian skater as well. Whether Ohno touched or pushed the skater, no one really knows other than the skaters themselves. But it probably looked like to the refs Ohno did pushed him from their replay and the fact that the skater fell right afterwards, thus providing to the refs sufficient proof and so he was hence DQed.

Answer 12

"Im 13 and I think that Apolo Ohno should of gotten a medal

The Canadian that was in first place tapped the Korean that's why he went down

And with Apolo Ohno grabbing the back of him

Doesn't MOST of the time a short track skater touches the back of a guy I think it was the Canadian who lost his balance for that

APOLO OHNO SHOULD OF ATLEAST GOTTEN BRONZE" - Princess

Okay so I'm korean and Korea was on the brink of falling before Canad a tapped him. Korea might have been regaining his balance and canada might have knocked him off. Apolo Ohno should have at leat gotten a BRONZE???? How? He got disqualified the reason to that was because the Canadian fell when Apollo was still touching him. There was a similar incident with korea in Salt Lake City remember???? If Apollo should have at least gotten a bronze then korea should have gotten the gold!!

And don't go on saying that I'm picking on a little girl cuz I'm about the same age as her.

Answer 13

Oh my god. What is with these stupid claims. Apolo pushed Tremblay who fell onto Si-Bak who fell BEFORE Hamelin made the "push", if you call that a push. Skaters are REQUIRED to touch the person in front of them to ask them to move, else suffer the disqualification, and with the numerous camera angles the judges have, they were able to concur that Hamelin had not caused Si-Bak to fall. Now you say the hip touch for Ohno was not deserving of a DSQ, but Hamelin's is? The only conclusion here is that you are an American hurt over the bump, which Ohno has done MANY times before, and came here to rant and gain confidence with other Americans that you are right. Another thing: everyone complains over the Canadian judge disqualifying the Korean and the women's relay team, and after NOT disqualifying Si-Bak for once, you all complain that he is against the Americans as well. Finally, Tremblay finished third, not second. Shows how much you know. Sidenote: I'm a big fan of Ohno.

Answer 14

I love how all of the Canadians on here are so quick to call out Apolo and laugh at his failures and America's at that as well. You all say America is so big headed and judgmental yet YOU are the ones pointing fingers and laughing. How hypocritical, listen to yourselves.



On top of that, you all FAIL to realize that your precious gold medal winner was the one who actually PUSHED a skater down. That you're all darn well lucky the head judge was Canadian and that person that Apolo came in contact with fell and drew attention away from the fact that the Korean was pushed by the Canadian who won gold.



It was unfair, and you all well know it. Set aside the fact that Apolo is an American and that the gold medal winner is a Canadian, and look at what actually happened. Apolo did nothing wrong, the Canadian simply slipped. Both men were given an unfair call, one losing his silver medal over it and one receiving a gold medal out of it.



And even if you still argue that Apolo deserved that call he got, the gold medalist should have been called the same then as well. He did the same that Apolo did. Because the Canadian wasn't called as well is what makes it unfair. They should have either both been disqualified or neither of them disqualified is all I'm saying.

Answer 15

The ref called a dq because before Hamlein fell Apolo put his hand on Hamlein's hip. If Hamlein didn't fall Apolo wouldn't have been dq, but because he did the ref ruled that Apolo caused his fall. I think all three should have been dq if that's how the ref wants to play it. Both Canadian's

contributed to the Korean guy falling so why only call out Ohno for it.

Answer 16

I personally think that the referee is A) biased and B) he was only looking at the situation between U.S.A.'s Apolo Anton Ohno and Canada's Francois-Louis Tremblay. The Korean Sung Si-Baek who won the silver was pushed down from under the armpit by Charles Hamelin, the Canadian skater who won gold. I watched the replay many times and listened to other people's opinion, and the disqualification call is completely unfair. In short-track speed skating, every skater will have his hand on the other at one point or another in the race. The referee was the head CANADIAN referee, and they are on Canadian soil. If Ohno was disqualified, Hamelin should have been too. The reason that Tremblay fell was because the side of his skate skidded the ice, which would cause him to fall. Also, Tremblay's hand was on Apolo's leg, so when Apolo took a step, Tremblay fell. Apolo had to catch his balance from that, not because he had been leaning on Tremblay. There was an interview with Apolo after the race, and he explained that he put his hand on Tremblay so he wouldn't run into the back of him. (Which is the nature of this sport. Everyone is touching the other.) It was basically a cushion. Ohno said that he would never try to push down another competitor, let alone of their own soil. I completely agree with Apolo that the unfair call had a heck of a lot to do with the Canadian referee. The person that should have been immediately disqualified was Hamelin for completely pushing the Korean down. He even tried to push him again after he fell, to A) make sure he fell or B) to catch his balance from leaning on him. Tremblay should possibly be disqualified for putting his hand directly on Apolo's leg. After the 1000m race, Apolo had an interview with Bob Coastas, and he stated that he did not slip in that race... he was pushed by the Canadian, who was NOT disqualified. If Ohno was disqualified in the 500m, so should have Hamelin and the Canadian in the 1000m race, and possibly Tremblay. Apolo should have at least a silver medal in the 500m, and I know that he won in my heart.



By the way, yes I live in America but a TON of my heritage is Canadian... and right now I am NOT proud to be a Canadian =[



I'd just like to say to Jay about the "Canadian guy" thing is an unfair accusation. The skaters are moving so quickly all they can see is the colors of the outfits. Apolo wasn't sure which Canadian he was trying to pass all he knew is that it was a Canadian by the red and black outfit.

Answer 17

I'm American myself and I have to say the bias coming from lots of Americans is intolerable.

Most people complaining do not even understand the rules of Short Track.



Quotes from the official rule book:

a. When overtaking, the responsibility for any obstruction or collision shall be upon the skater overtaking, provided that the skater being overtaken does not act improperly.

c. A skater shall not deliberately impede or push another competitor with any part of his/her body, thereby gaining an advantage.

e- Any competitor who willfully impedes, improperly crosses the course of, in any way interferes with another competitor, or conspires with another to cause a race to result otherwise than on its merit, shall be disqualified.



Ohno pushed/placed his hand on Tremblay, thus gaining an advantage since skater fell and Ohno managed to balance himself off of this action. Clear violations of the rules.

Anyone who does not see this is blinded by ignorance. The rules don't care if it was intentional or not - if it happens, it happens.



Source:

http://www.osoinc.com/downloads/SportRules/SpeedSkating.pdf



During the 2002 Olympic Games held in Salt Lake City, the American judge DQ'd the Korean skater so Ohno got gold. We weren't complaining back then, why are we complaining now? If this holds true, then I'm going to say it's due to OUR ignorance and bias.

Answer 18

He barely touched the other skater and did not cause him to fall it would have happened anyways.Well Apolo was disqualified but of course not the Canadian dude! The head judge was Canadian. NOT FAIR AT ALL

Canadians you can give me all the thumbs down I couldn't care less! The truth is the truth!!!

If the judges were fair the Canadian should have been disqualified too along with Apolo

Answer 19

No one can really know if Apolo pushed him or he just used his hand as a guide and Tremblay fell on his own. All I know is that on the replay it looks like Apolo pushed him. Obviously it was an accident but the judges have to judge based on what they see and thats what it looked like. the only people complaining about the DQ are Americans. The reason the Canadian Hamelin didnt get DQ for his hand is because the Korean basically fell in front of him and Hamelin's hand did not touch the Korean until he was already in the process of falling. Therefore it is obvious that Hamelin did not cause the fall.



And let me finish by saying that Apolo is a pompus ***. Complaining about the DQ saying that the Canadians judge cheated to get more medals. and worse he couldnt even call Tremblay by his name. He just said "when i tried to pass the canadian guy"

Answer 20

It was not fair!!! Apolo Ohno is a great atlete and ................... it was not fair!! Sure he touch the person in front of him but it was an accident and he didn't mean it! The Canadian should have been disgualified too! And Apolo Ohno DIDN'T push the guy! He TOUCHED him NOT PUSH!!!!!!

Answer 21

He should have won that silver medal. I agree with pretty much everyone who answered this, he would not have been disqualified if that canadian didn't fall. A lot of countries really don't "like us" because we've gotten so far in these games and they don't think we deserve it. And the ref being canadian didn't help at all. At least he won a bronze in the relay! I think any country will take any chance to get a medal honestly, even if it's not fair. Hope that helps!

Amanda (:

PS- Thank you, Yahoo, for making Apolo look "class less" in your blogs. um, whats up with that?! haha.

Answer 22

Simple..the call was made by a Canadian. We all watched..and the same thing happen to apolo when the canadian almost made Apolo lose his balance..the only different part is that apolo had skill and simply didn't fall. They would have looked for any excuse to get him DQd being the best and all.

Answer 23

"2- A skater shall not deliberately impede or push another competitor with any part of his/her body, thereby gaining an advantage."



I guess this is why, but that doesn't make much sense to me. He didn't push anyone, and didn't actually do anything to hold the other Canadian back from winning. That guy fell by himself.

As for the gold medalist pushing Si-Bak, I'm not sure whether he did or not, but I still maintain that he didn't get disqualified because he is Canadian, and they're in Canada, and one of the judges was Canadian (yes, you who keep posting everywhere that there is more than one judge in speed skating, I understand that, but he probably protested disqualifying the Canadian and was all for disqualifying Apolo, and the two judges would both have to agree for someone to be disqualified).

Answer 24

He got disqualified because he barely touched the guy in front of him. I mean seriously It wasn't enough force to push the guy over. That guy just fell on his own. But since apolo touched him, they made it look like apolo pushed him which was total bs. Oh and the other guy just slipped on his own. Apolo shouldn't of been disqualified

Answer 25

he impeaded the path of the Canadian, If you watch the replay slowly you can see Ohno's skates knocking Tremblays hand off the ice causing him to fall.. Hamelin did not push the Korean.. the Korean lost his footing as he came around the corner, if you watch it slow you can see the korean losing his edge half way through the turn and NO ONE is touching him, and then he grabbed Hamelin's skate to try and save himself... The canadian's did NOHTING wrong.. you americans are just a bunch of sore losers! grow up!

Answer 26

Im 13 and I think that Apolo Ohno should of gotten a medal

The Canadian that was in first place tapped the Korean that's why he went down

And with Apolo Ohno grabbing the back of him

Doesn't MOST of the time a short track skater touches the back of a guy I think it was the Canadian who lost his balance for that

APOLO OHNO SHOULD OF ATLEAST GOTTEN BRONZE

Answer 27

Lil Wayne: "My, my... are we so quick to forget the 2002 Olympic Games held in Salt Lake Citu, USA, where an American judge DQ'd the Korean skater, thereby giving the gold medal to Ohno?"



Huh, we are so quick to forget? How could we have forgotten it due to the decade long death threats we have recieved from the Koreans. Heck, even you just brought it up yet again. Luckily this DQ this time was against an American, and since Americans are good sports (as opposed to Koreans and Canadians), this will be forgotten in a few days, and a never ending death grudge won't happen.

Answer 28

ohhhhhhhhhhh canada! we won gold, Ohno got disqualified. Isn't it just great too see american people's ego's cut down a few notches for once? Your guy lost, our guy won gold....oh yea we also won bronze in the same event, very funny, entertaining, and extremely fulfilling to watch. For those of you who may not understand what those words mean, it simply means it was....awesome.



But seriously, there is more than one judge making that call, obviously one of them was Canadian, the other I have no idea, however there are multiple people making that call. With that being said leave your pathetic patriotic egos at the door, we won regardless of what you all can say about us. Ohno was whining in an interview after the race to Chris Collingsworth (who has no right to be commentating an olympic event) about how it was simply because of a Canadian ref/judge. Keep whining Ohno that won't get you gold....or bronze. We didn't whine in Salt Lake City in 2002 about anything like this, so don't whine in vancouver and show some sportsmanship, and maybe for once your country can show some class as well.



PS. that relay was awfully nice to ;)



PPS. We won hockey gold in 2002, now it's time to do it again, and don't say you beat us already, that is totally irrelevant, come sunday there will be tears flowing from the eyes of the american team.

Answer 29

That is the same judge that ruled Korea lost the race. Guess what Americans he is from Australia NOT CANADA!. I have some other news for you and this is where you open your eyes.....ONO has been given medals without earning them. Yes he earned one race, but you should thank Korea because they gave you several medals in speed skating.(3 + in fact) 2 came in one race and the other came the other day when USA women got bronze in speed skating who almost got passed by the lead team. I will give you this, you have have the medal count but you will loose the gold count, which is the real count. Right now you have the most first place losers. lol GOLD IS WHAT COUNTS!!!!. Even though I am not from Canada, they a have treated you well down here as I have seen it first hand and you are just way too cocky. This is what make the rest of the world look down on you! Canada you rock! You have been so kind to every nation. I want to thank you and I will always be back.

Answer 30

Because the Canadian judge robbed to Canada obtain more medals (gold + bronze).

Answer 31

it dont make sense to me either i think its stupid to have a canadian judge to decide if their canadian player should be in the podium its stupid i mean of course hes gonna say that the opposing team did it because he wants his country to win. Apolo got D.Qd because he put his hand on the canadians hip which made the judge think that he pushed him but the canadian fell because he tried to put his hand on Apolo's knee which made him fall it was not because of Apolo. APOLO STILL ROCKS THE COUNTRY(and JR CELSKI) ^_^ hope this helped!!!

Answer 32

apperantly for making contact with the other canadian guy.

which is so bs.

I honesty dont' think an official from the host country should make that final decision. They should have someone else not related to either country make the final decision. PURE BS!!

Answer 33

Two Canadian Racers, in Canada, with a Canadian Head Ref. Just as simple dish of home cooking.



Beer Slayer, You do know that the Head Ref who made the final decision was Canadian.

Answer 34

Because he touched the Canadian.

BOO! Apolo should have got at least Bronze

Answer 35

I don't know... but I'll be glad when the olympics are over! They are lame and overrated!

Answer 36

Because Canada wanted more medals...



Actually, Ohno would not have been disqualified if the Canadian skater would not have fallen. He did touch the skater, but did NOT push him. It was a bad call.

Answer 37

Because the ref that decides the d/q is canadian, so of course his going to d/q Apollo.

Not fair. He was robbed tonight.

Answer 38

For passing a Canadian in his home country. STUPID REFEREE SUCKS, HE WAS CANADIAN, THAT'S WHY.

Answer 39

PROTEST

Answer 40

PLEASE READ:

https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20100226211226AAnphsJ



(this is my view on the matter)