After Sven Kramer lost a gold medal due to his disqualification from a lane violation in 10,000m long track speed skating, all fingers instantly pointed at his coach Gerard Kemkers.
As Kramer headed for a corner, Kemkers yelled from the sidelines "inside lane" despite the fact Sven Kramer should have remained in the outside lane.
Kramer crossed the finish line well ahead of second place skater Lee Seung-Hoon, but was disqualified for his lane violation.
Everyone, media, fans in the Netherlands, and those in the skating community are pointing fingers at Sven Kramer's coach Gerard Kemkers. Personally, I think this is utterly ridiculous. Kemkers did not reach out and push Kramer into the wrong lane. Kramer is an athlete at the top of his sport, likely the best in the world. His mistake is his and his alone.
If a slalom coach yells to miss a turn, or if a hockey coach yells to go offside, the player would not listen. It is the athlete who is competing for a gold medal, not the coach. Sven Kramer should have been fully aware of his situation and remained in the correct lane.
This is the athlete's mistake. Yes, a certain level of trust is held between coach and athlete, but in the end, it is the athlete's responsibility, especially one who is the world's best in a sport, to compete within the rules.
When the music stops in figure skating, the skater stops; no amount of yelling from a coach would keep that skater moving beyond their routine. No amount of yelling should cause an athlete of Sven Kramer's calibre to break such an integral rule.
If the long track speed skating community wants to point judgement at someone, it should be Sven Kramer, he is the one who changed lanes illegaly. He is the one who lost the gold medal. And the fact that he is publicly denouncing his coach, and complaining to the media, brings doubt to the quality of his character and judgement.
Stop blaming Sven Kramer's coach. It was Kramer alone who broke the rules.
Let the games begin.
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While I agree that Kramer showed poor sportsmanship and acted childish in his reaction to the situation, the bottom line is in this particular sport athletes rely on their coach's for direction like this.
ReplyDeleteStating that a hockey player would not go offside if told to by a coach is not the same, since that player would not be looking to the coach every time he's in front of the bench so that the coach could guide him whether he should or should not go offside. The same holds true with an athlete competing in the slalom.
Where we can agree is that Kramer reacted poorly to the situation. If he had any amount of class, he would publicly proclaim that the mistake was his own decision and not his coach's and that everybody makes mistakes. Sometimes as an athlete you need to swallow your pride and say the right thing despite what you may be thinking on the inside (see Rick Nash's reaction to Sidney Crosby being selected to take a penalty shot that Nash created).