One of the stranger stories of the Olympics has been the badminton scandal that saw the expulsion of several teams for tanking their group stage matches. Two duos from South Korea, one from Indonesia, and the top-seeded Chinese were all expelled from the games for trying to lose on purpose. The teams were trying to get a better draw for the knockout stages (thus still trying to win the gold medal), but they were kicked out for not following the "Olympic spirit" or something like that. Good thiing the international badminton federation has no say in the NBA Draft Lottery.
And while "Badmintongate" has actually thrown the Olympic future of the sport into doubt, it's also led to some humorous reporting moments. Where else can you hear serious journalists use phrases like "tanking" and "shuttlecock" so liberally? But the weirdest report comes from CNN correspondent Zain Verjee. Watch as she reacts to the "BAD-MIN-TON" by literally swinging a badminton racket like a gavel of justice. What the actual presence of a badminton racket does for the report beyond that escapes me though. Hopefully Verjee can start a trend of reporters using their subject matter as props in the future, it'd really add something to a John Clayton injury report.
H/T Jacob B.
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