Fencer Shin A-lam became Korea’s latest victim of questionable rulings on Tuesday, after one that cost her a chance at gold at the 2012 London Olympics.

A clock bungle during the women’s individual epee semifinal bout cost Shin the match on Tuesday.

Shin and her opponent, Germany’s Britta Heidemann, saw three bouts all during the span of a “second” on regulation overtime. Shin, tied with Heidemann, would have advanced to the finals had officials not added a third “second” to regulation time during which Heidemann landed the winning attack. 

International Fencing Federation regulations states that in the event of tie during sudden death a randomly chosen fencer, Shin, before the draw advances to the final. Reports say that officials were unclear as to how to handle the clock situation, lacking official protocol, and awarded the win to Heidemann.

What ensued was an emotional, stirring and ridiculous hour as a tearful Shin was forced by regulation to remain on the strip sobbing in front of the crowd while her coach, Shim Jae-sung appealed the ruling. 

IFF rules state that if a fencer leaves the piste, they are accepting the ruling. What’s more, Shin had money wired from the Korean Fencing Federation as a deposit is required before an appeal can be filed.

After Shin’s appeal was rejected she was escorted off the piste to a standing ovation only to return a few minutes later to the bronze medal bout, which she lost to China’s Sun Yujie.

“I was in very good shape coming here, in fact, I expected the gold medal,” said Shin after the event.

“This was bad for everyone involved and for fencing in general,” said Heidemann. She added that it was a shame it happened during the Olympics and that such a decision should not have taken so long.

Another controversial call plagued Korea during the quarterfinal of the under-66 kilogram judo match when Cho Jun-Ho was stripped of his unanimous win after the International Judo Federation intervened in bout and reversed the decision.

It was reported that IJF Refereeing Director Juan Carlos Barcos was seen discussing with IJF President Marius Vizer just moments before convincing the three judges to unanimously award Japan’s Mashashi Edinuma the win.

The IJF defended the ruling, which was met with boos from the crowd, saying that it reminded all three judges about a move that all three had missed.

“The referees weren’t told to change their minds, they were merely reminded about an incident (an attack by Ebinuma that could have scored) that should have influenced their decision,” said IJF General Secretary Jean-Luc Rouge as quoted by AFP. Both Cho and Edinuma went on to take home the bronze.

In the beginning of the games, Korean swimmer Park Tae-hwan was momentarily disqualified in the heats of the 400-meter freestyle for what was initially ruled as a false start. But after two appeals, Park was given a rare reversal by FINA, the sport’s governing body.

Park lost the final to China’s Sun Yang and settled with silver.

Judging mishaps are nothing new to the Olympics which has seen numerous scandals and blunders over its history.

More recently, boxing took the spotlight in the 2008 Beijing Olympics after serious claims emerged about bribery and manipulation of bouts.


By Robert Lee
(robert@heraldcorp.com)