Shin A-Lam: No Consolation Prize Will Erase Fencer's Bad Memories of Olympics

We're all used to bad calls on the baseball diamond, or on the parquet floor, or on the gridiron.

We're not, however, used to seeing them at the Olympics. Not when gold medals are at stake.

The biggest controversy thus far of London 2012 has stemmed from an unexpected source: fencing.

According to The Independent, fencer Shin A-Lam of South Korea had been under the impression that she won her bout on Tuesday versus Britta Heidemann, the 2008 gold medalist. Shin thought she'd be moving on to the gold-medal match.

But not so fast. Per The Independent, a referee ruled that one second remained on the clock when the match was called, so both competitors were called back out onto the piste and competed three times with one second left on the clock. The first fencer to register a touch would win. 

According to the Associated Press, Heidemann appeared to register a winning touch in the third one-second do-over, but as evidenced by this GIF from BuzzFeed, the clock started late:

Heidemann had more than one second to win, but still, referees ruled in her favor.

Through no fault of her own—and due to two separate mistakes by officials who run the clocks—Shin was kept out of the gold-medal match and instead was forced into the bout for the bronze mere minutes after her controversy came to a close. Needless to say, she lost fairly quickly.

First, the scoring officials messed up by ending the match before time had officially expired. Then, they forced both fencers into a ridiculous standoff in which they each had one second to win. One second. That's like forcing two NBA stars to shoot from long range until one of them sinks a winning shot.

In no way does that illustrate which side played better during regulation. Those one-second intervals do not approximate, in any fashion, the true intricacies of a full fencing match. Heidemann didn't win this match; she won on a technicality. She essentially won by default.

Heidemann won because she was lucky enough to come out on the good end of the officials' mistakes—first, on the mistake that ended the original bout prematurely, and afterward, on the mistake that led to the clock being started too late.

For Shin, it's not fair. It's the furthest thing from fair. She should've won, and this is the Olympics. This isn't some poorly publicized matchup that nobody cares about.

This is the world's biggest stage, and it's the only chance fencers have to force themselves into the public eye. It's their only chance to receive worldwide recognition.

Shin certainly has gotten plenty of that because of this disaster. It's just not the kind of recognition she wants. She would have preferred—and she deserved—a chance to compete for the gold medal.

The Korean Olympic Committee attempted to protest the officials' unpopular final decision, according to The Independent. Though the appeal was rejected, the Federation Internationale d'Escrime responded by proposing an award for Shin. A consolation prize.

Big deal.

A consolation prize is nice, but there's no way to compensate for this colossal error. The only way to make this bitter taste go away for Shin is to turn back time.