Fencing controversy: Korean fencer in tears after loss because olympic clock stopped longer than 1 second

South Korean Fencer Shin A Lam was 1 second away from having the opportunity to fence for an Olympic Gold Medal.

Her opponent, Germany's Britta Heidermann trailed Lam by a single point and would need to score a point in a second in order to win the bout and advance to the gold medal finals. Lam all but had the match in the bag.

But then the clock failed.

Stopping for longer than a second, Heidermann was awarded more time to score the point on Lam, and thus advanced her to the final round. Lam's team, furious as the debacle, immediately appealed the decision.

The Olympic committee was visibly flabbergasted by the situation, as it was one that they had never encountered before.

Lam was forced to stand on the fencing piste, as per the rules, for over thirty minutes before the committee finally ruled it's decision. Lam cried for the nearly half that time.

Lam was forced to immediately fence for the Bronze medal after the mishap, losing to China's Sun Yujie 15-11.

Spectators were supportive of Lam, applauding and cheering for her after she lost the bronze medal and was embraced by her coaches.

Shin was not allowed to leave the strip and sat, in tears, waiting for a decision.