Yuna Kim gets robbed by cheating judges at the Sochi Olympics? I think so.

To many who are following the Olympics, Yuna Kim is still the Queen.

If a referee or judge prevents one athlete from winning so that another athlete can win, we, in America, say the first athlete 'got robbed.'  Basically we are saying the first athlete deserved to win and the second athlete only won because the judges cheated. To cheat, in this case, means to unfairly give one athlete higher scores than another. Of course, to rob someone is to steal something from them - to be or get robbed is to have something illegally taken from you.

Basically, this is why I haven't even been watching the Olympics.  I have heard that there is cheating in the sport of figure skating.  And, according to the article below, figure skating is not a completely honest sport.  

What angers me is that the judges also tried to hurt Yuna Kim's performance by making her wait on the ice for too long before they allowed her to perform.  But Kim is, basically, a SUPERSTAR and even making her wait for too long on the ice did not hurt her performance.  She is the true champion.  

Here is an article about this disgraceful situation at the Olympics:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-sp-sochi-figure-skating-plaschke-20140221,0,4308145.column#axzz2twJJkka9

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

flawless - no mistakes, perfect

cuts no ice - if something doesn't cut ice or cuts no ice, this means it didn't work or wasn't effective

retain - keep

feisty - energetic, aggressive

fanatical - very devoted, overly devoted

she never stood a chance - there was no hope she would win because it had been determined ahead of time that the Russian would win

a scandal - a shocking story in which one learns that something wrong happened

she could not withstand a charge - she could not hold up against an attack, she could not defend herself from an attack from the Russian skater

the home ice advantage - referees and judges will sometimes favor a performer in the performer's own city or country

stunningly - shockingly

the strength of her presence was overwhelmed by - Yuna Kim is one of the greatest skaters ever, but her strong presence on the ice was covered up by the extra cheering of the crowd. She didn't seem as great because the crowd had cheered so loud for the previous performer. 

a biased panel of judges - if someone is biased, he/she likes someone and dislikes another person for the wrong reasons.  If I am an American referee and I am involved in a game with American athletes, I might be biased for them and biased against their opponents.  A panel is a group.

to be held more accountable - if someone cheats or does something wrong, they should be punished or removed; to be held accountable means to be punished if someone does something wrong

bordered on the unbelievable - was close to the unbelievable

a moving desperation - an emotional urgency, to be desperate means to want something very badly even though you know it might not be attainable

felt burned - felt offended or upset

its landmark Olympic victory - it's most important victory (unfortunately, like a lot of things in Russia, they only got this victory through cheating and corruption)

turned up the heat - became more aggressive

to chant something - to repeat it over and over 

slowly losing steam - slowly losing energy

attempting to fix - if you try to 'fix' a competition, you try to make sure a certain athlete wins. So this judge was definitely corrupt in the past and should not have been allowed into the Olympics again.  Why does the Olympics allow corrupt judges to determine winners and losers?

to keep the crown - to keep the championship

brash - aggressive

murky - dark

irked - angered; she should have been angered - I'm not even Korean and I'm angered.  The best person did not win this competition.

she played it too safe - she was too conservative, she did not take extra risks (I think that even if she had taken extra risks the Russian skater would have won - the judges were obviously biased)

to skate lights out - to do an amazing job of skating; Wagner is saying kim skated amazingly but did not win because the judges cheated

palpable - real

scoundrel of a sport - a sport that is known for its corruption and cheating; a scoundrel is a dishonest person 

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