A bizarre scene unfolded during Monday's semifinals of the women's
fencing event at the Olympics in which South Korea's Shin A Lam
was left sitting in protest over the judges' decision.
During the match, the 25-year-old was was in position to win against Germany's Britta Heidemann, but a confusing ruling at the end crumbled her hopes for the gold. Here's a clip of the duel that took place:
According to BBC Sport, the controversy came when Heidemann was awarded the match while the South Korean coach protested over an apparent clock malfunction. Shin had priority with :01 on the clock and the score tied in overtime, and would have, in theory, reached the gold medal final when time ran out without a clean touch.
As the coach left to file an official complaint, Shin was forced to sit on the piste (the elevated platform they fence on), since leaving the piste means that you have officially accepted the judges' ruling.
She quietly sat alone in front of the crowd for 45 minutes before eventually being escorted away after losing the appeal, but not before crowd of 7,000 gave her a standing ovation.
During the match, the 25-year-old was was in position to win against Germany's Britta Heidemann, but a confusing ruling at the end crumbled her hopes for the gold. Here's a clip of the duel that took place:
According to BBC Sport, the controversy came when Heidemann was awarded the match while the South Korean coach protested over an apparent clock malfunction. Shin had priority with :01 on the clock and the score tied in overtime, and would have, in theory, reached the gold medal final when time ran out without a clean touch.
As the coach left to file an official complaint, Shin was forced to sit on the piste (the elevated platform they fence on), since leaving the piste means that you have officially accepted the judges' ruling.
She quietly sat alone in front of the crowd for 45 minutes before eventually being escorted away after losing the appeal, but not before crowd of 7,000 gave her a standing ovation.
