Congrats, Aaron Peirsol!

More drama for the US at the Olympics, as Aaron Peirsol wins the gold, besting his closest rival (Austria’s Markus Rogan) by 2 1/2 seconds. However, shortly after the race, Peirsol was disqualified for an illegal turn, shown to be in error in instant replay. The US planned to protest, but the ruling was overturned, not because they were in error, but because the judge was apparently too wishy-washy in his explanation (which didn't match that of his written ruling), nor did he issue the ruling in English as was required.

Rumor has it that the attempted disqualification of Piersol was due to comments he had made regarding other rulings, claiming that Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima used an illegal dolphin kick in his win in the 100m breaststroke. You can almost never forget that politics still plays a huge part in the Olympics.

The Austrian team protested the ruling, as did the fourth place finisher (Britain's James Goddard), but both protests were rejected.

However, in what I think is a huge nod to sportsmanship and the air of the Olympics, Rogan claimed that he would not accept the Gold medal if it were awarded to him, he wouldn't accept it. He was vocal after the race in this assertion that Peirsol swam a clean race, and that he deserved the medal. It's rare to see that kind of attitude these days, so my hat's off to Rogan.