I'm glad Olympic officials took a stand and disqualified four badminton teams for intentionally losing their matches. Two women's teams from South Korea and one each from China and Indonesia were sent home on Wednesday. Losing the matches would allow them to play weaker opponents in the next round.
The same thing happened in women's soccer, although no team was disqualified. A tie against South Africa, an easy opponent, allowed Japan to have an easier travel experience for their next match. Had they won, they would have had to travel farther. The Japanese coach basically instructed his team to knock the ball around, but not try to score. The result was a boring 0-0 draw viewed by fans hoping to see an actual athletic contest.
Regardless of their reasoning, these countries should be embarrassed with themselves. Trying not to win at the Olympics is pathetic. This proves why America is still the greatest country in the world. If an American athlete/team purposely played for a loss or a tie, there would be outrage back at home. What they did in later events would become irrelevant. I noticed Michael Phelps and the other American going all out in a semi-final. Both easily qualified for the finals, but weren't about to save energy and go 75%. It's shouldn't be about winning or losing but about Olympic Ideals.
Remember, Ted Williams was batting .401 with one game left in the season. His manager was going to sit him so he would break the .400 mark and not risk going under. Williams insisted on playing, because he loved the game. He ended up going 4-6 and broke the record. His attitude is something these four countries need to look at.
8 Badminton Players Accused Of Throwing Matches
