Gymnastics lacks the clarity of timed sports, in which a stopwatch provides the exclamation point to superb performances by Olympians such as American swimmer Michael Phelps and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. In gymnastics, subjective qualities often supply... More...

Playing by the rules: [QUOTE] The answer was in a six-step tiebreaker procedure instituted in 1997. With the first step failing to draw a distinction between the quality of the routines, a second tiebreaker was needed. The relevant numbers: He was assessed fewer deductions, on average, for her performance by a subset of judges than was Liukin - 0.933 of a point to 0.966. With that bit of mathematical minutia, China won its seventh gymnastics gold, and the U.S. remained stalled at one. Liukin shrugged off the unfavorable decision. "That's the rules, and you have to play by them," said Liukin, who has won a gold in the all-around, two silvers - in the team competition and uneven bars - and bronze on the floor exercise. She has one event remaining: today's balance-beam final. [/QUOTE] Also: Tiebreaker turns into a heartbreak for U.S. gymnast (International Herald Tribune) http://www.gymchat.com/messageboards...ad.php?t=76050