Imagine being a world class athlete heading to the Olympics and not even knowing exactly what you are competing in. That was the case for golfer Matt Kuchar.
Meeting with the press prior to the Olympic competition in Rio, Kuchar was asked if he was pulling for the other Americans — Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler and Patrick Reed — during the Olympics. Of course, Kuchar probably thought before having one rather important detail explained to him. Golf is not a team competition at the Olympics. This is an individual competition!
“Now, I may be miss-informed or just don’t know. You may have to help me. Is there no team format at all?” Kuchar asked the media. “When they first talked about it, if there were four Americans it was the two highest ranked and they were going to combine the scores for a team event.”
Oh dear. Matt didn’t get the memo, did he?
“There is no combined? No team event whatsoever?” Kuchar continued. “Just an individual. We did the same thing at World Cup: 72 hole stroke play. I played with Kevin Streelman. We never played together but we did represent the United States in a team format.
“That was my initial impression of what was happening with the Olympics, but I’m incorrect on that.”
No, Matt, you are sorely mistaken here.
Let’s hope other athletes heading to the Olympics are aware of how their specific events are to be run and what qualifies for a medal and what does not. We know now that you can never be too sure the athletes know what they are competing in.
