ATHENS -- Make no mistake, Kyle Shewfelt will not leave here with a second medal.
He knows that.
He also knows wading into the judging scandal that cost him bronze in Monday's vault competition does him no favours if he's ever to compete again.
It also does little for his public image.
So, perhaps following the lead of the deans of Olympic class and grace -- Jamie Sale and David Pelletier -- the 22-year-old Calgary gymnast distanced himself from his coaches' protest as much as possible yesterday.
"I didn't ask them to do this -- they took it in their own hands," said Shewfelt, one day after being jobbed by blatant technical judging infractions. "I didn't say 'I should have won bronze.' I've never said that and I'm not going to say it now. I did have a great Olympics. I have nothing to be upset about. I'm not a whiner and I'm not a complainer."
He's a gold-medal champion and yesterday he reiterated his focus revolved around a beach party his family and friends were throwing for him last night to celebrate Canada's first Olympic gymnastics medal.
That said, he knows he's been wronged.
The whole gymnastics world knows. And, as of last night, the onus was on the technical director of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), Adrian Stoica, to explain how it came to pass that fellow Romanian Marian Dragulescu collected hardware Monday despite a final dismount that looked like he was pushed out of a bus.
"You can make your own judgment on that," said Shewfelt, agitated the focus has shifted from his gold to missing bronze.
"I don't pay attention to it. I can't because I'm an athlete who is competing and if I paid attention to that stuff, I'd be awake all night."
A Cirque du Soleil hopeful who could also write his own ticket as a commentator for CBC, Shewfelt is about to take the first holiday of his life where he'll decide whether to retire as a competitor, as hinted.
If he elects to continue his career, you can bet he'll continue to let representatives do his talking. If not, look out because you better believe he's unhappy with losing a podium moment to politics.
"I'm an outspoken person and so of course I'd like something to do with it but at this point I don't want to deal with it because I won a gold medal in the Olympics," said Shewfelt, who nonetheless insists Gymnastics Canada "deserves an explanation.
"If, in the next few days, (the scandal) becomes a bigger issue then I'll deal with it."
Chances are it will.
"I landed both my vaults and he fell on one of his, so I was a little bit confused, to be completely honest," said Shewfelt, who is well aware the mandatory deductions Dragulescu's landing should have drawn made his score impossible.
"Judges are also human people and not every single mistake can be considered as an intentional mistake, no way," Stoica told CBC.
"If we will find an intentional mistake, be sure we will take measures."
While a host of other countries are also following up gymnastics protests in various forms, Gymnastics Canada president Jean-Paul Caron was anxiously awaiting an explanation promised from Stoica late last night. He said from there he would not take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
"I'm not expecting a change in the outcome. But at least explain to us why the rules were not applied in two situations," said Caron.
Block judging took over, that's why. Bet that won't be in Stoica's letter.