Stuart Hayes Triathlon

its an accepted part of the sport apparently

Not only accepted but utterly noble and heart-warming

Oh come on it is not like he deliberately fell over to get a restart like that dastardly German in the cycling.

Of course you are missing something. He was trying to win as all the other athletes are. The fact that he wasn't good enough to do so but was picked because he is could help facilitate the medal prospects of somebody else is a different issue completely. One which arguably doesn't conform to the olympic ideal but still different.

On another thread elsewhere I have posted a quote from a highly placed legal friend of mine " never trust any government implicitly  , if they dont like whats happening they change the rules " . Substitute Olympic committees , rules officials , doctors certificates re 800 metres runner , 100 metre seat break rule , etc etc .  If you have enough clout , and enough Nelson eyes anything becomes possible .

What about the cycling road race. We had a team of five all purely there to win it for Cavendish. And most of the field didn't bother because they had a mate in the front group. All sports are different.

The only people that ended up getting DQed were the badminton players who ironically were the only ones trying to win gold.

when he was interviewed with the brothers after the event, he said "we were a team"

i couldn't help noticing that one of them didn't have a medal, i suspect when he wakes up in the morning and reads the papers he'll notice himself

Totally disagree. Do all the cyclist mechanics, sports psychologists, coaches, etc, get any medals?

Hayes wouldn't have even made the Olympics if the selectors were picking on just ability and times. He's ranked 46th in the world and there were other GB athletes faster than him. He was picked because he's a good cyclist and could help control the pace for the Brownlee's. Yes Hayes doesn't have a medal, but he's probably just extremely happy to have taken part in an Olympics.

that wasn't my point

Darlo answered your point. He was brought in to do a job and he did it. He can justifiably be proud of his efforts as can those who took the decision. Being smart is underrated.