Olympic row

Don Burgess
One has to feel for Jillian Terceira. If she was representing Bermuda in any other sport and had qualified for the Olympics, she'd be in Beijing. Unfortunately for her - and Bermuda - she qualified in show jumping, which meant that either she or Patrick Nisbett would be sitting on the sidelines come August. This Olympic row has come about because Bermuda can only have on representative and the Bermuda Equestrian Federation selected Nisbett. Only one of the three jump offs between Nisbett's Antille 8 and Terceira's Navantus took place with Nisbett winning four faults to eight.
Supporters have made claims as why their rider is superior and deserve to be going to the Games. All in all it's an unfortunate situation for Bermuda.

Comments

[Tryangle]

What are the general arguments for and against each representative and why did it come down to this so-called "playoff" anyway?

If Bermuda had one other person qualify in show-jumping would Bermuda have been allowed to send a team, then?

[Don Burgess]

You are correct - if Bermuda had qualified one more rider in show jumping we could have sent a team of riders to compete. With over 10,000 athletes, the IOC is all about trying to contain the numbers.

[sparxx]

Not debating the talent or skill of these riders and the importance of their sport, I just wonder why this is such a problem??? With other sports fighting for their lives to be even included in the Olympic agenda, you would think that just being considered should be enough of a compliment. When you consider that sports like softball and rugby will be fighting for recognition and a future in the Olympics, it seems awfully bitter and trivial for an equestrian to be moaning about losing a spot.

Maybe people should understand that the OLYMPICS is more about NATIONAL pride than individual pride. You win a medal, you win it for your country, your national anthem is played. Does it suck that some people qualify and some people don't... no... not really. At least you had a shot at qualifying, while in some sports you have no shot at all.

Show me a person who lives a privileged life, and I'll show you 10 who don't!

[Tryangle]

Good point, although in the case of sports like rugby the pinnacle of their sport isn't the Olympics it's the RFU World Cup.

Then again if a person feels that they've been wronged after qualifying and expecting that their performance has been superior, to get passed over, must be a hard pill to swallow when there's a lifetime opportunity that you think you've earned...