I'm very much in agreement with Gaffer on the fencing debacle. And I think way too much is being argued based on assumptions about teh rulez. Back on page 6 I posted a link about that Olympic boxing match. Despite the ref calling it for the one guy, on appeal the decision was reversed because the rules of the sport were not followed.

I don't know why the same common sense application of the rules of the sport could not similarly be applied on appeal in fencing. I'm not going to assume they can't be. And we're not talking about some subjective "common sense" of judges doing what's "fair." We're talking about abiding the rules of the sport, that all acknowledge were not followed.

Warbler, if you can find the rules of appeal for Olympic fencing and argue why they do not permit remedying the mistake, please do so. I know this isn't a fancy debating forum or anything...but pounding the table (metaphorically) and declaring the importance of rules without knowing what they actually are seems like a waste of time.