Who is to Blame?

Gerard Kemkers is not exactly a household name, perhaps even in his own home. I'm not sure many of the speed-skating fanatics in the Netherlands knew too mach about Kemkers, the coach of superstar Sven Kramer...at least how much they knew of him prior to Tuesday (2/23) afternoon in Vancouver.

While Sven Kramer glided his way to gold in the 5000m race last week, we got a glimpse of just how much the Netherlands love their speed skating. We learned that a power company offered a 50 euro discount on quarterly bills if Kramer won a gold medal. That makes America's love of football look like a mere childhood crush. Going into Tuesday's 10,000m race, it was clear the country would be glued to their TVs close to midnight in Amsterdam, to watch Kramer in the race he hasn't lost since 2007 (yes, there are places that show the Olympics live all day; come to think of it, that's basically everywhere but the US).

This distance once again looked like it should be named the "Sven Kramer Challenge" as the only real competition was for 2nd place. Kramer was skating in the last pair and had a solid 6 second lead with only a few laps left, when he came to the transition area where the skaters switch between the inside and outside lane on each lap. Kramer was heading for outside lane when he hesitated and suddenly jumped over the orange cone to the inside lane.

He proceeded to keep cruising around the ice, finishing 7.57 seconds ahead of his closest competitor. As the crowd went nuts, he flashed his winning smile and pumped his fist, until Coach Kemkers came up next to him to say something, and suddenly Sven was throwing his glasses, yelling & looking nothing like a man who had just claimed his 2nd gold medal of the Vancouver games.

The voice of the arena announcer began to explain some sort of issue, which the NBC commentators passed along to confused viewers like me. In a 25 lap race, the skater should not end in the same lane where he began, yet Kramer had started and ended on the inside lane. This means he missed a lane change and was automatically disqualified. Speed skating analyst (and former athlete bringing us heartbreak and then triumph) Dan Jansen said he had seen this happen before, but never by the top skaters, and never in the Olympics. I just sat on the couch wondering how a skater of his caliber could forget to make a lane change. I got my answer during NBC's primetime broadcast (I could've looked it up earlier online, but that would've lead to finding out who won the Men's Giant Slalom race that NBC wasn't showing until later, so I yet again avoided the Internet).

Video shows that as Sven Kramer was prepared to move to the outside lane, his coach Gerard Kemkers emphatically pointed toward the inside lane. Kramer had to decide in a split-second whether to go with his gut, or listen to his coach. Unfortunately, he made the wrong decision (and ultimately a costly decision, literally, with that medal being worth nearly $500,000 US dollars from his sponsors).

So whose fault is it? Some of the media and other athletes say the blame lies squarely on Sven Kramer's shoulders, since he is the world-class athlete, solely responsible for his performance on the ice. While this is technically true, I'd have to put the majority of the blame on the coach (who, as Bob Costas mentioned, might want to look into witness protection).

By this point in the race, Sven Kramer had been skating about as fast as I drive my car, for about 10 minutes. He thought he knew where he was supposed to go, but his coach, the man entrusted with making sure he did everything possible the last 4 years to prepare for these races, was telling him something different. Kramer is an amazing athlete, but even bionic men get tired, which can make the mind tired. Coach Kemkers had been on the sidelines watching, just skating back and forth a few times. Surely he wouldn't have a mental lapse in a moment as important as this, would he? As he watches Kramer move toward the outside lane, he wouldn't adamantly point inside unless he was 100% sure he was right, would he?

As both a former coach and athlete (albeit at the somewhat smaller stage of the high school level), I'd have to place the majority of the blame on Gerard Kemkers. The coach can't mislead his athlete like that, even if it is obviously unintentional. Certainly, he wasn't trying to sabotage Kramer's top event, and Kemkers definitely looked rather inconsolable later, but he was the one pointing his athlete toward the wrong lane.

Of course everybody makes mistakes, but regardless of magnitude and regret, they are still responsible. Yes, Kramer could've continued in the direction he was heading, and yes, he does have to take some responsibility as well, but every athlete is taught from day one to listen to their coaches and to follow their directions (which Kramer did quite literally in this case). Dan Jansen later added that while he had seen skaters forget to change lanes, he had never before seen a coach point his skater in the wrong direction, so it would've seemed improbable to Kramer that Kemkers could be giving him bad advice.

That being said, it would be honorable if Kramer would publicly put the blame on himself and apologize for his (understandable) tantrum after the race. Kemkers would still know he made a huge mistake, as would everyone else watching, but it would be a classy move by Kramer nonetheless, and show that he is also a champion off the ice, which could end up being meaning more to both of them in the long run.