When Third Is Fourth

    **  SPOILER ALERT -  WOMENS ALL AROUND FINAL INFO FOLLOWS  **

     Today I learned that 59.566 does not equal 59.566.

     In the women's gymnastics all-around competition, a tie for third does not necessarily earn you a bronze medal.  It does if your name is Aliya Mustafina of Russia, but it does not, if your name is Aly Raisman of the United States.

     FIG, or the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, determined some time ago that they did not like ties, and so, institiuted a tie-breaker system.  In the all-around competition, the women compete on four different aparatuses, (aparatae?) and the scores from each discipline are totaled to deterine a champion.

   When two competitiors complete the four events with exactly the same score, as did Mustafina and Raisman today, the tie is broken, thusly:

    Each competitor is allowed to drop their lowest score, and then the three highest remaining scores are totaled and the person with the new higher total wins.  Today, that winner was Mustafina.  What makes this especially galling is that fact that Mustafina was able to drop her horrific balance beam score -  she actually fell off the beam.  Her remaining three scores totaled, were just enough to edge out Raisman for the bronze.

   Our condolences, Aly Raisman.  In our book, you won bronze today.