15 reasons Summer Olympics are better than Winter Olympics
By Brad Weiss
5. Timed winners vs. Objective winners
Olympic athletes work their whole life to get to the point where they can be considered for a gold medal. For Summer Olympics competitors, their goal is simple, beat the other people in the event. For Winter Olympics athletes, their task is much harder.
In most Summer Olympic sports, the athlete needs to have the fastest time, the highest number of points, or the longest jump. The criteria for winning is simple, and whether or not they win is very black and white. There can be no second-guessing the clock, and it leaves little room for controversy.
The Winter Olympics are a whole other story, as in most events, athletes have to not only beat their competition, but they have to show judges that they are the better competitor. The judging is arguably the most frustrating part of the Olympics, as competitors really have no idea how they did until the numbers are shown.
In previous Winter Games, this has caused some scandals. One instance was in Salt Lake City, when cheating allegations arose against French Judge, Marie-Reine Le Gougne. She reportedly said she was pressure by the head of the French skating organization to vote for Russians no matter what. So despite a great program by Canada, Russia was awarded the gold, prompting an investigation.
Eventually, Canada was given a gold medal, but the Russians were also able to keep their gold because it was ruled that the competitors did nothing wrong. It was just another head-scratching event in the history of the Winter Games.
Having judges just increase the opportunity for human error, and it can cost an Olympian their only shot at gold.
Next: 4. Historical moments