Why do you think they threw the match? Was it the 2012 Olympics? Or could it be because of Russia annexing Crimea? https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/bizarre-scene-unfolded-mens-gymnastics-144400741.html A bizarre scene unfolded in men's gymnastics as Ukraine lost on purpose by not even trying Scott Davis,Business Insider 13 hours ago Comments Sign in to like Reblog on Tumblr Share Tweet Email AP_16219835194793 (Julio Cortez) A bizarre scene unfolded Monday during the men's gymnastics finals when Ukraine intentionally tanked and forfeited a shot at a medal. The move baffled the gymnastics world and now many are wondering if the team tanked on purpose to better set themselves up for the individual events. A similar move in badminton in 2012 ended with several athletes being kicked out of the games. The Ukrainian team qualified seventh for the eight-team final, but during the final, it simply didn't try. As The Washington Post's Scott Allen explained, countries must pick three gymnasts of their five-man squads to compete in the finals. Oddly, Ukraine picked just two athletes to compete in three of the six events high bar, parallel bars, and rings "a surefire way to finish last," according to Allen. Some in the gymnastics world were confused. This was Maksym Semiankiv's routine he walked up to the high bar, jumped up, grabbed it, then dropped down. He bowed to the audience and walked off. ukrain gymnastics 1 (YouTube/NBC Sports) ukraine gymnastics 2 (YouTube/NBC Sports) For reference of how quick his "routine" was, his name card was still on the screen when he jumped up on the bars and let go. "That was strange," an NBC gymnastics analyst said. "I'm ... not sure what just happened." Here was Semiankiv's parallel bars "routine." ukraine gymnastics 3 (YouTube/NBC Sports) ukraine gymnastics 4 (YouTube/NBC Sports) NBC's analysts continued: "Truth be told, I'm still baffled by it. I don't know ... If you've already given up, what are you fighting for?" Ukraine finished 72 points behind Japan, the gold medal winner. The team's reasoning is still unclear.
