Would there be a “house arbitration” in Tokyo? In any case, this is what the media and Brazilian supporters denounce after the defeat of their favorite Gabriel Medina in the semi-finals of shortboard surfing. Eliminated at the gates of the final, the world number 1 lost 17.00 to 16.76 against the 6th world Kanoa Igarashi. A defeat because of a generous rating given to the local.
Eight minutes from time, the Nippon took off to complete a full turn by grabbing his board. A beautiful figure, despite a complicated reception, rewarded with a very high score (9.33). A score accumulated with a previous figure that allowed Igarashi to win and qualify for the final, much to the delight of the Japanese.
A “controversial defeat”
Except that this rating does not really make the Brazilian press smile. In the quarter-final against Frenchman Michel Bourez, Neymar’s very good friend had performed the same figure, a little more aerial and without the help of his hands, for a final score however lower (9).
Reactions are multiplying in the Brazilian media. Spear ! speaks of a “controversial defeat”, while the word “theft” comes up a lot, including on social networks. TNT Sports preferred to be ironic on the question: “If the Japanese have not understood what happened, imagine us… Hello judges! Everything okay there? The superposition of the videos of the figures of the two semi-finalists was taken up by the majority of the sports media.
Not enough to really question the result. Judges’ ratings at the Olympic Games are very often criticized in the event of elimination of favorites.
