For an athlete, reaching the Olympics is often a long, difficult journey. Some players work for it their entire lives.
That's why it's hard for me to believe an Olympic participant would ever deliberately lose. But that's just what eight female badminton players did yesterday evening; they've since been disqualified from competing in the Olympic games.
According to CNN, "The players from China, South Korea and Indonesia were accused of playing to lose in order to face easier opponents in future matches." The Badminton World Federation has charged the four pairs of players with "not doing their best to win a match and abusing or demeaning the sport." Though the South Korean and Indonesian pairs have appealed the decision, chances are they'll be handing in their Olympics embroidered apparel for good.
Crowds noticed the dull games, too. Fans at Olympic Park found the scandal to be "shocking," reports CNN.
Most confounding of all? According to the Los Angeles Times, "The Chinese players are the reigning world champions." Oh, the shame!
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