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The "Olympic Spirit" they keep siting is that they should try to win all the time. Philosophically I agree with that. The problem is that in the Olympics , the definition of winning is winning medals , not winning each individual contest. If in order to "WIN" (get a medal) the system dictates that losing an individual contest provides the best route to a medal , then why not do it.
I think the bottom line is that the system that makes it advantageous to take a dive is at fault , not the players or coaches who decide that the best way to win a medal within the system is to win or lose in the early rounds to get favorable seeding into the medals rounds. Its a real shame for the girls who trained their whole lives for the chance at an Olympic medal and then get put into such a tight spot by some rules committee with their heads up their butts.
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