thiago_simoes

This sums it up: “We were asked to follow the SEA Games technical book, but now they want to change it to FIG rules. What's the point of the SEA Games handbook?" Now, when there's conflicting information, one of the documents has to be taken as the most important one. They used FIG rules for everything from dress code of the gymnasts to the points awarded for each event, but they chose not to follow the FIG regulations when a medal was unfairly awarded to a gymnast. Very poor decision and a blow to the reputation of this event.

Wait, what? FIG's rulebook states clearly that tiebreaking rules apply to all events. To me, this severely pushes back any appreciation I could have for this competition. I know it's a small competition focused on local gymnasts, many of which are not exactly world class, but the organizing committee was completely lost when dealing with this situation.

The only thing I expect from the IOC is to make it look like they are neutral athletes. If there's a team named "Olympic Athletes from Russia", then for all intents and purposes it will be Russia, except for the flag (which is not much of a loss) and the anthem. "Olympic Neutral Athletes" is much more of a slap on the face. However, I'm more inclined to believe that there will be the word Russia in the name of the team, so all of this is supposed to be a bad joke about a state-driven doping system, which I absolutely despise. Getting rid of the flag and the anthem is not enough punishment for a program that has lost any semblance of fair play.

Cruzeiro has some of the worst supporters among clubs in Brazil, so most of the country wanted it to be relegated to a lower division. I have to confess I was among them. I don't feel bad for the club at all.

Anyone watching the Miss Universe contest?

I remember when Mexico sent pictures of their male gymnasts to the Universiade and the pictures were of the same person with the gymnasts' head pasted on them.

I've been following the Thai Gymnastics Federation on Facebook for a while and they were super excited for the SEA Games. Now they are over the moon with the gold medal in rhythmic gymnastics. Many Thais seem to be excited with the gold medal as well, given their reaction on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. It's so nice to see rhythmic gymnastics being able to move fans and bring joy to a nation. Not may countries outside of Europe give proper credit to rhythmic gymnastics, unfortunately.

It's mesmerizing how big is the English-speaking community of fans of this sport event on Wikipedia. All the articles about the competitions are detailed and up to date. There's even a big article listing the concerns and controversies so far. For comparison, there are still a bunch of articles missing about the 2019 Pan American Games.

Yes, I agree. I dislike these sports but I know the governing bodies have done a great job promoting them.

Sepak Takraw is the most confusing sport I've tried to follow. The governing body for the sport is a joke, then there's the King's Cup which is nearly impossible to find results for... It's a pity because the sport per se is exciting, and a lot better than badminton, in my opinion. I would gladly watch it at the Olympics instead of karate, taekwondo or badminton (three sports I really dislike).

Wait, what? This is probably the "main" sport at the SEA Games (i.e. the best of the best in the world can compete), and the organizers still impose restrictions on which nations can enter teams in which events? Disgusting.

I'm a heavy sleeper and I'm used to mosquito bites, so it would not be impossible for me to not even feel a needle being injected into my skin. A penis, of course, is a very different thing.

Or simply that the person is a doper, that is. There are clean athletes who play fair, so there's absolutely no excuse for allowing dopers the benefit of the doubt once they are convicted.

Wait, what? Years? How hard is it, actually, to take years to design?

Any footage from artistic gymnastics?

How do scores work? I see scores like 211/6 and I always think "what the hell is this supposed to mean?"

Even so, the problem is that scores across all gymnastics disciplines seem to be quite biased lately. I've been following results of all disciplines for decades now; since 2011 some scores are just not right. Especially in women's artistic gymnastics this year, it's baffling that Belgium qualified a full team (they were overscored in every single piece of apparatus) and Melnikova got two individual medals (she deserved none). Trampoline has always been a political tool for FIG. It's very easy to raise scores a few tenths or lower scores a few tenths without things looking very suspicious. We've seen this in other disciplines as well, but in trampoline things are getting out of hand now. Besides, there's the fact that Japan got medals in Olympic events in all three gymnastics disciplines at the World Championships this year. In my opinion, this is not simply a sign of them training hard because they are the hosts of the next edition of the Olympics; there seems to be a heavy political component here that increases the scores of Japanese gymnasts a few tenths. More food for thought: Japan has a historical feud with China, and since the moment a Japanese man was appointed FIG's president, China has been receiving lower scores and struggling to get medals. I'm starting to lose interest in gymnastics. I know controversial decisions have been part of this sport forever, but lately things have been so blatant it's discouraging.

I don't really follow trampoline because, quite frankly, I don't care for it. However, I have to say that before this event, Japan had 5 gold medals at the Trampoline World Championships from 1964 until 2018. Now, in 2019 alone, they won 4 gold medals. How different things can be now that the FIG president is Japanese and Japan hosted this event, huh?

Please, don't ever joke about colonialism. There's absolutely nothing funny about it.

I'm really surprised at the double standards here. People go crazy when a new cheater is banned, but when a nation creates a state-driven doping program, most people are okay to simply turn a blind eye on the whole situation. Clean individuals can always try to compete as independent athletes. Of course players in team sports would suffer, but that's the price you pay for representing a nation which has been proven again and again not to play by the rules. At this point another slap on the wrist is not going to make any difference. The IOC needs to ban Russia with no possibility of amendments to their decision. And, really, how come some people still believe this is not about politics? What world do some of you guys live in? We have athletes representing nations competing against one another, and a huge doping scandal led by a nation, and some people still believe this is only about the individual performances of the athletes? Seriously? Wake up, Sleeping Beauty.

When I turned 5 my mom chose Flamengo as the theme for my birthday party. Since then, I've been wondering why the club was so popular because it did nothing to really be relevant in the last 30 years (besides winning state and national tournaments, which I find extremely boring). Now things will finally be interesting for me.

Not sure about the ones about the Pan Ams and the Olympics, but here is the one about the South American Games. There's one (not from Rodriguez, though) about the CAC Games with results from 1926 to 2010. I think you would like to read it too. You can download it here.

Very interesting read, but my heart broke when I learned that Ernesto Rodrigues III died last year. He compiled a book with the results of the South American Games, as well as the Pan Am Games and the Olympic Games, but the one about the SA Games remain the only credible source of historical results for the competition. He even distributed it for free. I e-mailed him once and he replied with enthusiasm about his book. Oh, man. Life is unfair. He will be missed.

Finally Brazil won a FIFA World Cup event as hosts. U-17, but still... Finally!