Medal Races - poor format?

I can't think of a better name, but I do think the term "medal race" is bad - until good ol' Bob has explained it countless times it is very easy (and reasonable) for someone to assume that it is THE race which decides the medals.

I'm not sure the double points has much to do with whether, in the one last race, A bounces B over the horizon or not. Surely that's a possibility at the end of any series?

Admittedly I've only been avidly watching the medal races (live), but that's largely because the wind has been better lately.

Don't understand your suggestion about a 'pursuit race' at all. Make no logical sense

I'm a big fan of the medal race - yes, it has seen someone in silver medal position end up sixth, but this has happened in only one of the medal races.

How can you beat the drama of the 470 men's race? Nick Rogers & Joe Glanfield were down and out after the first beat and weren't in the medal positions at all and stormed back to take silver - simply awesome!

I do think that the TV coverage needs a sidebar with live scoring / leaderboard based on current medal race positions - this way the public could see who's coming where. Surely this could be done with GPS data and a bit of software? (Mags, I'm looking at you!) 

Edited by Mark Jardine

Originally posted by nutonthetiller rather boring meaningless race with the first boat sailing the second down the pan.

Surely that would a possible tactic regardless?

 

Nonsense, Madison makes perfect sense, just don't lose concentration for a moment, it takes about 10 minutes to find the place again. And they are much better 'in the flesh' when you can see the big picture.
I digress...
I think we have learned that the medal races work, as long as there is wind. Finn (Attempt 2),  470, Yngling all gave perfectly good medal races which made sense within the concept.
When there was no wind Finn (Attempt 1), Laser,  then the concept fell a bit flat as the risk of getting stuck in a hole and losing touch meant the close cover sailing backwards down the fleet was the prime approach. This catapulted the Swede down to 6th from silver, although strangely the positions when the Finn medal race was abandoned would have left Railey in silver.
Without going into the precise details of why, the 49er race showed us what happens when all hell breaks loose. People are split over whether this was ultimately a good thing or a bad thing...

Originally posted by Chew my RS How about a radical overhaul of the whole race format at the Olympics? I propose a knockout system rather than a points series. Start with, say, 32 teams. After Race 1 only the top 16 go through to Race 2. Then only the first 8 go through to Race 3. Then the top 4 go through to a medal race. Then those 4 fight it out. One team finishes distraught in 4th and the others relatively happy. It encourages winning the final race rather than covering a large lead gained in the previous 10 races and would provide more drama. It would also be easier to follow.

Might work as long as the races are in places with sensible wind!!!!!!!!!

maybe series for 4 races, drop 50% of the fleet (not probable that they would win a medal from that position anyway). 

Now, do we reset the points, or carry thru?

Now do we do 4 more races and drop 50% more? 

Means more organisation (less classes if we all have to start at 32 and we know how many problems that can cause!!!!)