Blaine Wilson used fiery words to express his disgust Saturday at Olympic Indoor Hall.
In the process, the three-time Olympic gymnast ignited a controversy on the first day of the Games: Wilson accused Japanese judge Sawao Kato and event technical director Adrian Stoica of cheating.
Kato, the head judge for high bar, and Stoica informed U.S. coaches Wednesday that a release move in three gymnasts’ routines would be scored lower than in world-championship meets the previous two years. The deduction could cost the gymnasts as much as two-tenths of a point.
Wilson and Jason Gatson altered their routines to include more difficulty, and the results were devastating for Wilson, who fell from the bar on his new release move and was visibly shaken. Later he withdrew from pommel horse because of dizziness.
“It’s cheating,” Wilson said repeatedly.
He finished the routine for a score of 8.862. Gatson struggled to a lesser extent and scored a 9.337.
Wilson pointed out that U.S. gymnasts performed the move in question, called a Stalder Hop Full, in last year’s world championships without a penalty. The U.S. won silver at the meet.
Kato declined to comment through an event spokesman, and Stoica was unavailable.
Overall, the last-minute scrambling in routines had little effect on the U.S., which finished second in preliminaries behind Japan. The Japanese were impressive in scoring 232.134; the U.S. scored 230.419. Preliminary-round scores do not count in the finals.
“We’re right on track to get a medal here,” Morgan Hamm said.
The U.S. men have not won a team medal since winning gold in the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
Romania is in third place heading into Monday’s finals. China, the 2003 world champ favored to win gold here, struggled with a fourth-place finish but advanced to the finals.
“We looked awesome,” Wilson said. “We didn’t have any real weak spots.”
There is room for improvement, though, on pommel horse, rings and vault. The U.S. men appeared fatigued after three rotations, and Wilson’s troubles disrupted their momentum.
Paul Hamm, the reigning world champion, is in position to win the country’s first Olympic gold medal in men’s all-around in Wednesday’s finals. He had the highest score of 58.061 and was the only gymnast to advance to the finals in four individual events (high bar, parallel bars, floor exercise and pommel horse).
Brett McClure will join Hamm in all-around but is a long shot to medal. He had the 19th-best score Saturday. McClure was the third gymnast whose high bar routine had been questioned, but he declined to make a change. He scored 9.662.
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Morgan Hamm, Paul’s twin, qualified for finals in floor exercise and high bar. Wilson had hoped to qualify for the all-around final. After his fall from the high bar on a double-back somersault over the bar, he competed in floor exercise and scored a 9.7. Afterward he complained of dizziness and sat out the pommel horse. He rebounded to compete on still rings and vault after receiving medical clearance.
Whether working to recover from a surgery, including one for a torn left biceps that put his career in jeopardy this year, or just speaking his mind, Wilson is always passionate. That’s why his accusation didn’t surprise USA Gymnastics officials.
“He didn’t mean it like it sounded,” men’s senior director Ron Galimore said.
Still, Galimore expressed his own disappointment with the judges’ 11th-hour ruling. He and USA Gymnastics President Bob Colarossi met with the judges early Saturday. Galimore said Stoica told him officials should have adhered to the code in the world-championship meets.
“You don’t think mistakes like this can happen,” Galimore said. “When you do something for two world championships in a row and your team places with a silver medal, you assume if something is out of the ordinary someone would . . . “
He didn’t complete the thought. Instead, he endeavored to use the controversy as an incentive.
“They will be motivated by it,” Galimore said. “That’s the way Blaine uses it. That’s the way they all use it.”