Canadian Olympic Gymnastics coaches angry

Canada finished 9th, just out of the top 8 for Team Finals.

2004 Olympic Floor Champion Kyle Shewfelt finished 11th on floor and 9th in vault. Top 8 make Apparatus Finals.

Kyle’s not posted anything on his blog as yet.

… Tony Smith, was stunned by what he believed was low scoring across the board for the Canadian team.

“I thought our performances were better than the scores we received today,” said Smith. “I felt we were evaluated harshly. That’s my personal opinion.”

Smith, like others before him, has called for change in gymnastics scoring, insisting that judges from competing countries should not be chosen for Olympic competiton.

“The judges for trampoline are all neutral country judges,” said Smith. “It’s been like this (in gymnastics) forever and it hasn’t changed. Countries have certain friends and friends help friends. I think we were a better team than where we ended up.”

The gymnastics team was hoping to become the first Canadian team in history to qualify for the Olympic final. And Shewfelt appeared to be back as a contender.

“To say I was disappointed in the way we ended up would be understatement.”

For the record, the Canadian team won’t be filing any kind of protest. “There’s nothing we can do,” said (Edouard) Iarov.

Toronto Sun

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Kyle still makes Vault Final. There is always hope that one of the top 8 will withdraw.