How Judges ‘Grenaded Their Credibility’ On Controversial Snowboard Run

Ayumu Hirano proved not all eye checks are created equal.

Judges awarded the snowboarder from Japan a curiously low rating for his second run within the males’s halfpipe competitors on the Beijing Olympics on Thursday. Judges scored his near-perfect run as a 91.75, inflicting snowboarding legend-turned-NBC analyst Todd Richards’ blood to boil.

“Uhhhhh, what?” Richards mentioned after seeing Hirano’s rating, per Yahoo Sports activities’ Wenzell Ortiz. “Is there a mistake? How did that — wait a minute. There’s no manner. There may be nooo manner! A 91.75?”

Richards’ rebuke of the judges continued on the opposite facet of a industrial break.

“So far as I’m involved, the judges simply grenaded all their credibility,” he continued. “That run — I’ve been doing this for thus lengthy. Soooo lengthy. I do know what run appears to be like like.

“I do know the components of a successful run. I do know after I see the perfect run that’s ever been carried out in a halfpipe. Attempt to inform me the place you’re deducting from this run. It’s unbelievable that that is even occurring. It’s a travesty to be utterly trustworthy with you. I’m irate proper now.”

Hirano confirmed his championship mettle in his third run, delivering a competition-high 96 on his third, and ultimate, run.