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Why Was a Japanese Gymnastics Coach Caught on Video Handing a $100 Bill to the Judges?

Jul. 31, 2012 10:28am Mike Opelka

Did you see the curious events surrounding the final point totals in the Men’s Gymnastics competition on Monday? The favored Japanese mens team was dangerously close to not winning the gold medal. In fact, the highly-ranked Japanese team was teetering on missing out winning any medal until their team handed a fistful of cash to the judges.

Why were the japanese giving gymnastic judges 100 dollar bills?

It sounds dicey, but believe it or not nothing untoward or illegal was happening.

In Olympic competition, you can file an appeal to have your performance reviewed and possibly see your score changed. However, filing an appeal requires cash payment before the judges will review anything. And if you lose the appeal, you lose the cash.

Following the performance and scoring of three-time world champion, Kohei Uchimura on the pommel horse, Japan filed an appeal (with cash in hand), asking that the judges to review the scoring on Uchimura’s dismount. A review was completed, the score upgraded by 0.70. That slight increase was enough to move Japan from 4th place into second, giving them the silver medal. (It must be noted that after a successful review, all cash is returned to the team/person petitioning the judges. Losing an appeal means the money is forfeited.)

Watch this YouTube clip of the event:

In a way, the IOC’s policy has some similarities to the NFL’s policy of giving coaches a limited number of video replay reviews. In the case of professional football, teams are penalized with the loss of a time out if their appeal is denied. They don’t post a cash deposit, but each appeal effectively puts a valuable time out at risk.

The requirement of a cash payment before an appeal is filed does feel a tad creepy to most folks we surveyed in the Blaze newsroom. However, we also understand that adding a potential monetary penalty to the appeal process probably prevents endless appeals from being filed. One Blaze editor suggested that the cash stipulation should be replaced by the possibility of a reduced score if the appeal is not successful. Do you have a better idea / suggestion? Feel free to comment below.

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Comments (100)

gridlock812
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 12:04pm
What a disgusting way to get clicks.

Mike Opelka should be fired.

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- Ed_Kel
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 12:31pm
  Ditto
  
  Report this comment
- muffythetuffy
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 12:59pm
  The US $100 bill is the acceptable bribe in Europe. Giving a judge $100 to change his decision is acceptable in most of the world. In America its OK too as long as its done in secret and no one sees.
  
  Report this comment
- ISRAELISOURFRIEND
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 1:22pm
  Reminiscent of Obama politics:
  
  Money is the seed of corruption, swaying voters, swaying support, getting a large populous to buy your lies through the power of corrupt media and distorted truth.
  
  FACT IS, IF YOU’RE NOT BLIND YOU CAN SEE. THE TRUTH IS STILL AND WILL ALWAYS BE ABSOLUTE!
  
  Thanks for bringing this to light!
  
  Report this comment
- netmail
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 1:38pm
  Non-story. Announcers explained all this last night as it unfolded. Quit wasting our time with BS.
  
  Report this comment
- Kankokage
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 3:36pm
  Sigh. I love Glenn, but this is a stupid non-story trying to drum up surprise over what turned out to be a very legitimate procedure and complaint by the Japanese. Do yourselves a favor and delete it from your archives to prevent further embarrassment.
  
  Report this comment
- The-Monk
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 3:47pm
  I’m shocked; shocked I tell you. The entire World knows that the American dollar is very devalued.
  
  They should be bribing in the German Mark or another currency. : )
  
  Report this comment
- Johnny Cocheroo
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 4:32pm
  I concur that Mike Opelka should be fired – or at least read the dictionary to determine the base meaning of “caught”.
  
  Garbage innuendo article. What a waste of time.
  
  Report this comment
- Mike Opelka
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 5:53pm
  “It sounds dicey, but believe it or not nothing untoward or illegal was happening.”
  
  Report this comment
- Question with BOLDness
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 8:09pm
  Agreed! I wouldn’t have clicked on the story had I known
  
  Report this comment
- IBHowe
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 8:10pm
  I agree.
  I don’t know why I even clicked, I already knew the answer because I watched that part of the Olympics and the announcers clarified it right then & there, just so this kind of crap journalism didn’t happen.
  
  Report this comment
- ManThong
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 11:04pm
  Get me a Coke, please.. and keep the change.
  
  Report this comment
- PASSIONFORCHRIST
  Posted on August 1, 2012 at 2:10am
  My opinion is AMERICAN TEAMS SHOULD JUST PACK UP AND TELL LONDON TO *** OFF!!! THE OLYMPICS ARE SUCH A FARCE, TOTAL COMMUNISTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY HATE US BECAUSE WERE MORE FREE THEN THEY ARE AND HOPEFULLY WILL BE FREER WHEN MITT IS VOTED AS PRESIDENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
  Report this comment
kindling
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 12:02pm
I don’t care what is going on in the world because every time there is a distraction Obama takes away a bit more of our freedom. We must not take our eye off the walnut shell.

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- steve61lindsey
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 2:29pm
  Obama Akbar!
  
  Report this comment
- Lizzie43
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 2:43pm
  very true
  
  Report this comment
Irishtech
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 11:42am
I don’t trust any Olympic sport that has judges. they always seem to judge some countries more strict than others.

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- DouglassFiller
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 3:40pm
  You mean, for example, the S. Korean/German fencing travesty. Having to wait an hour without leaving the platform, having an absurd judgement passed on, then thrust without proper warmup into a match against China for bronze. Talk about a cluster-frak. That was one tormented girl.
  
  Report this comment
whatthecrazy
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 11:42am
There is nothing more creepy or criminal than whats going on in Washingto D.C .

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Blazen420
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 11:37am
Watersrpeople, Are you okay? You are not making any sense….Are you wasted?

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- barber2
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 11:51am
  That one NEVER makes any sense.
  
  Report this comment
- Arc Angel
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 10:07pm
  Are you talking about Maxine or Who? I tought this was about the Olympics.
  
  Report this comment
Blazen420
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 11:35am
So you have to pay money to appeal the mistakes of others? That is what you call bribery!

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Blazen420
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 11:34am
It is still bribery. Only difference is that bribery is part of the rules in the olympics.

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Dudley Do-Right
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 11:32am
He was paying the required fee to submit his appeal. This was explained in detail by the announcers last night. I would say this headline suggests cheating on the part of the Japanese Team and I find it offensive.

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- blOWS
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 11:43am
  A fistful of US dollars to anyone suggests commerce or services rendered….oh, and the score improved after? Really?
  
  Report this comment
- antiencenom
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 11:44am
  Yes,I agree
  I didn’t see.any “money exchanged in this whole video,
  The money has a paperclip on it,when he is talking to the first judge then he goes to the table.
  But he did not give the money to anyone in this video,Com on
  
  Report this comment
- Saintfyre
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 5:30pm
  @Blows, yeah his score did go up, and the money was returned to the Coach since he was valid in his dispute. Learn to read before making stupid statements, this isn’t bribery.
  
  Report this comment
watersRpeople
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 11:17am
It’s kind of funny that some Progressives want to make all drugs legal – the free flow of drugs. And still other Progressives want to keep drugs illegal. The ones who want all drugs to flow freely all work for me.

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- The-Monk
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 3:52pm
  @watersRpeople
  
  Ron Paul works for you, you say? I think you might be correct this time.
  
  Report this comment
Constructionist
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 11:11am
They will have to create a new system regardless; after the next round of QE, a handful of one hundred dollar bills will only be worth a buck fifty anyway.

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- Ari Ben TZion
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 11:16am
  Support Chick-fil-A, Wednesday, August 1, 2012
  
  Cancel you Amazon account and ask others to do the same.
  
  Report this comment
littleshopofordnance
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 11:10am
Many competitions allow protests to scores. All that I am aware of require a cash post to file the protest. This keeps people from filing protests just to clog the system or protest frivolous things. All shooting competitions I shoot in have the cash for protest (NRA, ICORE, USPSA)

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4xeverything
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 11:09am
Ha, I love it! The Japanese in London using the American dollar to pay international judges.

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saranda
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 11:07am
Once again the blaze uses a headline intended only to draw traffic to a non event story. If the comments were not so entertaining this site would be a bust. Every day that I come hear I am more convinced that many of you post trying to be funny as no one could believe some of what is written.

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- RightUnite
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 11:16am
  And yet, here you are….. Trolling much??
  
  Report this comment
- SunnyFLBeaches
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 11:18am
  Yet you keep coming. If you don’t like what you read…then don’t keep coming “hear”. Duh.
  
  Report this comment
- jeffile
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 11:19am
  Really? Really? You don’t believe this is a major story? Must be nice to live in your bubble.
  
  Report this comment
- MartyTr
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 12:25pm
  You could go the The Nation Magazine and read about their communist ideology. They hate God, America and Israel. Talk about narrow minded.
  
  Report this comment
- Anonymous T. Irrelevant
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 3:20pm
  @SARANDA
  You have my permission to go back to the HuffingPuffing Post.
  
  Report this comment
Dismayed Veteran
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 11:00am
Is this a mandate or a tax? We better ask Roberts.

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Gonzo
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 10:56am
“One Blaze editor suggested that the cash stipulation should be replaced by the possibility of a reduced score if the appeal is not successful.”
Blaze editor, then everyone in 4th place and lower could throw the red flag with no significant penalty.

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sWampy
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 10:55am
Look like he just had it in his hand, no clue why he would have usd .

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Satrix
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 10:53am
Sorry, coach. Euros are no good here. Let’s see a Benjamin.

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- Gonzo
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 11:06am
  Yes, our worthless paper is still better than any other worthless paper.
  
  Report this comment
- MartyTr
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 12:30pm
  Gonzo, yes America will be the last to fall thanks to socialism. Marxists are saying capitalism isn’t working, I say socialism isn’t working. (You know like Greece, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Mexico… )
  
  Report this comment
watersRpeople
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 10:50am
My change would be that people slow down a lot, be still. Quit being so busy and all. Your minds bounce around too much. As soon as I get your attention you’re off to another morsel of thought over there or over there. Kind of makes me want to get you stuck in the mud.

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- Madmilo
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 5:30pm
  Dude, What are you smokin’?
  
  Report this comment
jamesctheman
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 10:49am
The spirit of the Olympic games is a reflection on the current state of politics. Corruption, lies & bribery. Why is anyone shocked that in this climate this wouldn’t be the normal thing. If that is the rule then who gets the cash? The judges or the IOC. Looked like a pretty good wad. Bet you could have a nice dinner out.

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DrunkGOP_Hack
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 10:44am
Are those AMERICAN green backs?
hummmm!?

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forthepeople
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 10:43am
Nothing has changed , Doping , Bribery , Olympics !

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Cosmos102
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 10:43am
I don’t blame the Japonese for filing an appeal.

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barber2
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 10:39am
Photoshop ? ( Are the Democrats mad at the Japanese ?? )

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- OniKaze
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 12:18pm
  That does look like a fake photo doesn’t it? The “dollar” doesn’t look right in accordance to the hand holding it.. Also, why is a Japanese coach (Japan uses the Yen) giving American money to a British judge (Brits use the Pound…)
  
  Seems kinda odd, since the American dollar isn’t worth too much (thanks to Fuhrer Obama)..
  
  Report this comment
Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 10:37am
Bribery…pure and simple.

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- Chuck J
  Posted on July 31, 2012 at 2:55pm
  It’s not much of a bribe, as, in accordance with the rules, the $100 was returned to the Japanese when they received the ruling in their favor. The would have lost the $100 only if they were ruled against.
  
  There are plenty of examples of IOC corruption. This is not one of them.
  
  Report this comment
contkmi
Posted on July 31, 2012 at 10:35am
The IOC is a corrupt organization? I’m shocked, I tell you. Shocked!

Aren’t they mostly the same folks that run the UN?

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