Bad shot

This is the first sporting scandal to scar London 2012. There are quibbles over how group matches lend themselves to being manipulated by players. There have been instances of teams resting their better players against weaker teams. Or,underperforming to secure a safe match-up in the next round. The fudging of the system has,however,come under greater scrutiny,with the shadow of match-fixing over cricket and football.

In sports,willing oneself to lose is as unethical as using substances to enhance performance because both acts violate a sportspersons sacred contract with her spectator as well as the sports underlying principle of playing full and fair. The rush for golds and the rage for personal bests may have tainted the system. Even so,the sublime purity of athleticism is what the Olympics aspire to. The IOC may have to rethink the round-robin schedule,for there would be wilier sportspersons who could throw a match without making it starkly evident. And for athletes,the Yu Yang career graph is a warning: gold in Beijing,boot in London.