Canada appealing medal results in men's ski cross

[sureLoss]

Vicki Hall @vickihallch
Canada has protested the results of men's ski cross final, citing illegal pants worn by the French (gold, silver, bronze.) Leman came in 4th

Vicki Hall @vickihallch
Final decision to come Sunday but Canada missed original 15 minute window to appeal. Don't think it will change.

Vicki Hall @vickihallch
Canadian skicross team is in court at this hour arguing the case of the altered Frenchman's ski pants. Decision expected in the morning.

Vicki Hall @vickihallch
Slovenia and Canada are both appealing. FIS refused to hear the case due to the teams missing the deadline to file after the race.

Vicki Hall @vickihallch
Should Canada and Slovenia win the case, Canada's Brady Leman would receive gold. In hands of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

[undercoverbrother]

What about the pants changed the results?

[sureLoss]

http://www.ctvnews.ca/sochi/canada-a...ross-1.1699342

The Canadian Olympic Committee, along with the Slovenian Olympic Committee, are alleging that French team staffers changed the shaping of the athletes' ski pants for better aerodynamics.

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/sochi/canada-a...#ixzz2u5gqdMbt

Vicki Hall @vickihallch
From my understanding, teams have 15 minutes to file complaint of wrongdoing after race. Cdns noticed pant issue on video breakdown.

[dammage79]

That's kind of weak sauce IMO. How close was the finish?

[Jiggy_12]

The fact the French swept the podium does add a little more ammo to the argument.

Still seems like a long shot to get it overturned though.

[Locke]

'Illegal pants' sounds pretty dubious.

[SebC]

I think the Russian women's curling team had illegal pants.

They could have skied with out pants?

NSFW!

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Embarrassed we are appealing on these grounds unless somehow the pants actually made them faster or somehow us slower.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle

Embarrassed we are appealing on these grounds unless somehow the pants actually made them faster or somehow us slower.

I believe there were some DQ's in speed skating I think regarding suits.

It is believable that it could make a difference. Many sports are won on 10's and 100's of seconds.

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle

Embarrassed we are appealing on these grounds unless somehow the pants actually made them faster or somehow us slower.

From what I gather the pants were modified in such a way as to make the competitor more aerodynamic and, thus, faster.

[sureLoss]

So... new joke time?

Are you making your pants more aerodynamic for ski cross or are you just happy to see me?

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Yamer

From what I gather the pants were modified in such a way as to make the competitor more aerodynamic and, thus, faster.

How is this illegal? They're constantly making new suits in speed skating for those exact reasons

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

How is this illegal? They're constantly making new suits in speed skating for those exact reasons

The pants have manditory specs. If you don't conform to those specs, they're illegal.

Specifically, they have to have a certain amount of slack. It's no different than the minimum ski lengths, minimum bobsled weights, etc.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

How is this illegal? They're constantly making new suits in speed skating for those exact reasons

It is a matter of fairness.

No doubt technological advances are allowing athletes to be faster in all sports.

But in things like speed skating, ski cross, etc you need to regulate the equipment or else it becomes an arms race on equipment and the winners will be whoever has the best technology and science.

Unless the technology is fairly available to all competitors, it becomes less about the sport and more about science.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by SebC

The pants have manditory specs. If you don't conform to those specs, they're illegal.

Specifically, they have to have a certain amount of slack. It's no different than the minimum ski lengths, minimum bobsled weights, etc.

Does anyone know how this "slack" impacts performance. I get that there are rules on equipment (sled weight, goalie pad size, etc...) but my non skiing mind is having a hard time figuring out the benefits of too much or too little slack in the pants when it comes to ski cross.

[killer_carlson]

THey need to correct how this is being presented for public consumption.

It needs to be about illegal equipment or equipment not performing to mandatory specs. That is legitimate.

Instead it is being described as "alterations to pants" which sounds petty.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

THey need to correct how this is being presented for public consumption.

It needs to be about illegal equipment or equipment not performing to mandatory specs. That is legitimate.

Instead it is being described as "alterations to pants" which sounds petty.

Fair, but only if the alterations were somehow performance enhancing. Lots of sports and the Olympics have rules on equipment or uniforms that don't actually have anything to do with performance (for example sponsor logos).

If this wasn't performance enhancing alterations, and we are trying to get ourselves an extra medal off of a non impacting technicality, then personally I find it petty and I have no interest in winning that way. Those kind of things need to be caught and addressed before the competition by the organizers IMO and if they aren't, too bad so sad I guess.

If this is actually a performance enhancing move by the French, or said another way, they cheated, then I say go for it Canada, fight this one.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle

Does anyone know how this "slack" impacts performance.

I would imagine reducing slack (excess fabric) reduces drag.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle

Does anyone know how this "slack" impacts performance. I get that there are rules on equipment (sled weight, goalie pad size, etc...) but my non skiing mind is having a hard time figuring out the benefits of too much or too little slack in the pants when it comes to ski cross.

As a recreational skier, it would certainly have an effect, but I doubt it would have changed the results. Particularly since ski cross isn't just clocked, but you're racing with other competitors on the course.

The thing is, there's no way to know, with 100% certainty, who would have won had the pants been legal - particularly since ski cross is such an anything can happen type of sport. Having said that, some of the racers is snowboard cross were wearing helmet cams... so they obviously think that drag effects are negligible.