Some Olympic viewers were left perplexed during the weekend when a speed skating judge’s decision disqualified the United States and helped China win a gold medal.
The United States had finished second in its semifinal race of the mixed team relay event in short track speed skating Saturday, joining first place Hungary to advance to the finals. That was until an official’s review after the race determined that the United States and Russia, the fourth place finishers, had impeded skaters from team China, causing both teams to be disqualified.
Team effort! People’s Republic of China win the first-ever #Gold in #ShortTrackSkating Mixed Team Relay in the competition’s thrilling debut at #Beijing2022!#StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/QZ6wypUPMG
— Olympics (@Olympics) February 5, 2022
Team China, the world’s number one ranked team in the event, had initially finished third and not qualified for the finals. However, thanks to the penalty against the U.S., China took their spot in the final and went on to win the gold, the country’s first medal of the games.
The decision to disqualify the United States and Russia was met with some skepticism. Many viewers took to social media to accuse the result of being a “fix,” “rigged” and called the Chinese “cheaters.” (RELATED: TV Ratings Tank For The Olympics In Communist China)
The fix is in.
— Dawn Fleischmann (@DawnFleischmann) February 7, 2022
When the media wonders why low ratings there’s your answer, just another rigged games. Shocking headlines, China advances, and USA, Russia out…wow what a shock.
— Tim McCubbin (@C21ActionLATim) February 5, 2022
China lied about the virus. Now they are cheating. It was stupid to allow china to host the Olympics or anything. Why pump their economy. Idiots.
— Keith Jackson (@KeithJa60096623) February 5, 2022
American skater Ryan Pivirotto, who had the penalty assessed against him, took the high road. “We all skated our absolute best and proved that we were a medal contender fate decided to play it differently,” he tweeted after the event. “Lessons learned and it’s time to look forward for the next day’s of competition.”
Individually I made it onto the 1000m quarters and I’m super proud of my performance and resilience.
For the mixed it’s the other side of the coin, while we all skated our absolute best and proved that we were a medal contender fate decided to play it differently. (1/2)— Ryan Pivirotto (@ryanpivirotto) February 5, 2022
(2/2) Lessons learned and it’s time to look forward for the next day’s of competition.#teamusa
— Ryan Pivirotto (@ryanpivirotto) February 5, 2022
Pivirotto’s teammate Maame Biney expressed slightly more frustration and skepticism toward the decision, saying it was an “interesting call for sure.”
As U.S. athletes understand it, they were DQ’d because a skater (Pivirotto) crossed the blue line early, which made the Chinese team miss an exchange.
“It was an interesting call for sure,” Maame Biney said. “But it is what it is. We’re just going to focus on our next races.”
— Tom Schad (@Tom_Schad) February 5, 2022
The incident isn’t the first to raise questions about the competitive integrity of the games being hosted by the Chinese Communist Party. Russian biathlon athlete Valeria Vasnetsova called out the conditions for athletes in COVID-19 quarantine hotels in Beijing, saying the food is “impossible” to eat and that there isn’t training equipment available.
German skiing coach Christian Schwaiger called the nutritional options “extremely questionable.”