I had the title written as chocolate orange biscuit cake for quite a while before noticing. Upcoming family weddings can do that...still, at least I'm more with it than the FIG committee members who just voted for 4 member Olympics teams.
The team is the last thing the FIG should be touching, it's bad enough that they were recently reduced to 5. They can send specialists all they want....this is what teams of 6 allowed for. Qualifications are already diverse, if they take a look at London results there are plenty of girls from non-gymnastics countries struggling to post a half-decent score. THAT'S diverse, that there are spots for them. I do enjoy watching their routines..they often have interesting dance for instance..but if you're going to hit spots, they should be taken from the bottom.
Taking a look at the 2012 beam qualifications, 39/83 girls scored less than 13 on beam, 24/79 on bars and 19/60 scored less than 52 in the AA, which is all made worse by Olympic score inflation. We do not need to open qualifications any wider than they already are. Allowing bigger teams allowed for specialists in the team setting. Other specialists can qualify already.
The team competition is the quintessential competition. For a Tier 1 sport with massive Olympic viewership, they should be arguing for more spots in general, not slicing them from the top. It's just baffling, even understanding that a country can qualify 2 non-team specialists. Do these girls get to rotate with their fellow National Team members of the team in training, or are they isolated? Are they allowed one coach each in addition to the team's coaches?
This decision puts huge pressure on to keep up in the all-around, and that's not even going near what the guys have to do to cover 6 events with 4. China are screwed there..
Why do the FIG seem to veer away from what's actually needed? Is it fair that one committee member who voted was a big 4 representative? Do they deserve a cake?
