Was South Korean snowboarder wrongly awarded giant slalom win?
The Winter Olympics may have a controversy on their hands.
During the men’s giant slalom semifinals, Slovenian Zan Kosir and South Korean Lee Sang-Ho were pitted against each other for the right to advance. The race was extremely close, with Lee winning the race by .01.
Replays of the finish, however, showed that Kosir certainly looked to have gotten his arm across the finish line before Lee did.
How is it that Lee Sang-Ho beat Zan Kosir? Looks like Kosir crossed the finish line before Lee Sang-Ho did. Am I missing something? #Olympics pic.twitter.com/slSuQWt7NB
— (@KeithBalanis) February 24, 2018
SO CLOSE!
South Korea's Lee Sang-Ho advances to the finals in Men's snowboarding parallel giant slalom! #WinterOlympics https://t.co/zs69Ii032t pic.twitter.com/VviNPd9f7d
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 24, 2018
Admittedly, the angle of the camera isn’t directly in line with the finish. However, there were indications that something was off. According to Kevin Kaduk of Yahoo Sports, Kosir raised his arms in celebration upon crossing the line, and he protested when he saw the replay of the finish. It certainly looks like he had plenty of reason to complain.
There have been some wild finishes at these Olympics, but this is just bizarre. Lee went on to lose in the final while Kosir wound up with the bronze, but that might not be much consolation.
