From the very beginning, the Olympic Games were very different from other competitions. These were not just athletes competitions. One of the symbols and attributes of the Olympiad has always been an olive branch. Among the ancient Greeks, it denoted peace and tranquility. But how is the olive branch connected with the games? Everything is very simple. For the duration of the competition, top officials of states or empires agreed to end all wars and conflicts. Considering the branch of the olive tree to be a symbol of peace, they agreed to bring it into the invariable attribute of competitions.
The feature that will be discussed in this article will be another interesting feature of the competition - the Olympic system of the draw. It is very convenient in that it is quick in determining the final result.
In this article, the system for holding draws and its basis will be discussed in detail. The competition order, features, and examples of the Olympic system of the draw will also be presented.
The concept of a multi-stage competition system
The Olympic system or the playoffs is a draw system in which one participant is eliminated in each round. That is, there is a chance only once in order to continue the struggle on the tournament grid.
The Olympic draw system is a multi-stage competition scheme. Steps are called stages, which are popularly referred to, for example, as a quarter-final, semi-final, final and others. At each stage exactly half of the participants are eliminated, since matches are played with only two teams, one team will be eliminated, respectively.
The order of the Olympic system of competitions
Competitions in this kind of system are held in 1-2, or even more rounds. It all depends on the number of participants. Usually this figure does not exceed 128 people. Who, with whom will converge in the tournament bracket determines the draw.
The competition grid is built on the principle of adjacent lines. That is, it is drawn along two horizontal lines, over which names or teams will be signed. Further from the pairwise lines one vertical line is drawn in order to show who will play with whom in the next stage of the competition.
The tour, in which 64 teams meet, will be called 1/32 finals, 32 teams - 1/16 finals, 16 teams - 1/8 finals, 8 teams - quarter finals, 4 teams - semifinals and 2 teams - finals.
Features
In many sports, in order to reduce the number of teams participating in the playoffs and bring them to a number equal to the power of two, the so-called "regular seasons" are held. With the help of these seasons, only the best teams worthy to continue the fight for the title are selected. Almost all leagues in the world apply this practice.
When it comes to individual competitions, the selection of participants for participation in the final competitions can be based on their rating. The concept of "tight mesh" is very common in sports circles. The thing is that it is being prepared in advance and a strict framework is defined for how the rivals who won in the first round will meet between themselves.
When there are not many options for holding a knockout tournament, and the number of participants, for example, is such that it is impossible to pick an opponent for him in the first round of competitions, then everyone is divided according to the internal rating. That is, the participant who has a rating higher than that of others misses the first round and begins to compete from the second or third.
Pros and advantages
The main and main advantage of the Olympic system of draws is the minimum number of games for which you can quickly and uncompromisingly identify the winner. Matches are usually held one after another and it’s almost impossible to predict the exact outcome of the next.
For example, if there were a lot of matches in the playoffs and the capacity of the stadium is not large for all games at once, then matches are held at different stadiums. As soon as the circle of eliminated teams has increased to the desired number, to one that will allow the arena to hold competitions, then the matches of the remaining circles are held. This is usually done in the later stages of the tournament, in the semi-finals and finals.
Cons of the Olympic system of the draw
The biggest drawback of relegation games is the short list of participants. All this puts restrictions on the performance of some teams or athletes. It remains only to give the right of choice to the lot, who are destined to play, and who will have to leave the tournament. But this practice is used by a very small number of organizers, replacing it with a preliminary series of matches for reaching the main part of the competition.
If we talk about the justice of the distribution of places, then the elimination games are not the best option. Often it all depends on the case, and the case is a draw. In the initial stages, it may happen that a strong and equal in strength team converge on the other hand, or vice versa, weak and weak. It turns out that a weak opponent who has a lower level of preparation and skills can rise above any strong challenger.
Many will think that in this situation it would be more expedient to replace the die with any other pair matching system. But then the tournament will become predictable. So, for example, if you sort and assign pairs according to the rating of participants, then the winners in 80% of cases will be known in advance, which removes all interest from the fans of a particular sport.
In the playoffs, places except the first, second and third are not assigned at all. Instead, there is such a thing as "exit to the stage." But, if you assign places, you will have to enter additional matches for contesting these positions, in which case the main essence of relegation games is lost - speed. An exception to this rule is the often-held match for third place in order to determine the owners of bronze medals. However, such matches are rarely held in which tournaments and only one winner remains.
Innovations and Improvements
Over the years, progress does not stand still. In sports, they have long puzzled how to simplify and, at the same time, make the playoffs more organized and fair. Thus, a new Olympic advanced system appeared. Absolutely all places are played in it.
Starting from the first round of the competition, the losing team is not eliminated from the tournament, but from the struggle for a certain high place in the end. As a result, the winner will be the team that reaches the finals and does not lose a single match, as in the usual Olympic competition system. In turn, the last place is occupied by the player who has lost all matches, starting from the first round.
The grid of the new and old competition system is the same. The winner meets the winner of the other pair, and the loser by analogy goes in the opposite direction and plays with each subsequent loser. With the exception of entering additional tables for losers, the essence of the system for relegation remained the same.
Two-Deal Games
Let's start with what this concept means. The Olympic system to two defeats is a tournament scheme in which, after two defeats, the team drops out of it.
The overall standings consist of two parts - the upper and lower. All players during the draw are divided into pairs and without exception fall into the top of the competition. After the first round, the winners go to the next round of the upper bracket, and the losers get to the next stage of the lower bracket. Games at the bottom begin with the second round. Each tour consists of two parts. In the first part, the teams that won the previous round of the lower bracket compete. The second part consists of matches in which the winners of the previous round participate with the teams dropped out of the top bracket of the same round.
The final is characterized by a match where the winners of the upper and lower grids converge. If the organizers use the "usual system to two defeats", then the winner is the team that won the final match. If the competition is built on a "complete system to two defeats", then the final is as follows. If in the first match the team coming out of the upper part wins, then it becomes the winner of the tournament, but if in the first confrontation the team reaching the final from the bottom wins, an additional match is held in which the winner becomes the champion.
An odd lottery system
You will never pick the exact number of participants for the competition. But what to do if the number is not equal to the power of two. For example, the Olympic system of the draw for 7 teams.
In the first round, six participants will compete. One team will skip the first stage. Usually this happens for various reasons, such as: the leader of the world ranking in a particular sport, a special quota, a country or city, host competitions, and so on. If the team was located at the top of the tournament grid (most often it happens), then in the second round it will compete with the winner of the first pair, if from below, then with the winner of the last pair in the grid.
Also for 9, 11, 13 teams and so on. That is, if the number of teams participating in the competition is odd, then those who entered the game from the second round in the lower half of the grid will always be one more. And the pairs playing in the first round, one more at the top.
Examples
The playoffs are very widely used in regular seasons of game sports. Basically, this system is preached in hockey, basketball, tennis, soccer and volleyball. Do not forget about individual species, because they pass all along the Olympic system of competitions.
For example, the well-known National Hockey League plays the Stanley Cup every year. In order to win this trophy, teams will need, first, to get into the playoffs from their conferences, and then play matches, consisting of a series of up to four elimination wins. The team, which in the series reaches the first mark of four victories, goes to the next round. The situation is similar in the National Basketball Association.
Massively used to hold competitions in the Olympic system and in European football. According to the match system, competitions for the Cup of the country are held for the relegation. Everyone’s favorite Champions League, Europa League, European and World Championships are also played using playoff games.
Conclusion
The Olympic competition system has both advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes it helps to cope with a significant number of participants in a short time, but it happens and vice versa that participants do not cope with the system itself.
In modern sport, many methods are used to judge athletes and compare them with equals. With the help of computer technology, the draws of the most famous world-class championships and competitions are held.
Experienced athletes no longer pay attention to some formalities, and simply go to the game. And the young will have to adapt to the existing rules and laws of the Olympic system of draws.