Olympics Gymnastice Update

[BetteDavisEyes]

So the Korean gymnast that got 3rd place has received a gold medal from his country to replace the one that was stolen from him by the judges & the Americans.
He is still filing papers with the sports committee that oversees & has final ruling on these matters.

Am I the only one that thinks he should leave it alone? Yeah it sucked but he's not the first guy nor will he be the last one to lose a medal on a judges bias or errors. If that was the case, many results would be overturned on a weekly basis.

Just my 2 cents.

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by BetteDavisEyes
So the Korean gymnast that got 3rd place has received a gold medal from his country to replace the one that was stolen from him by the judges & the Americans.

Explain how the medal was stolen by the Americans. Hamm played by the rules. It was not his fault that the judges made a mistake. Nor is it the American Teams.

As I understand it, the Korean team tried to protest, were asked to come back at the end of that day's competition, and waited too long under the rules.

I'm somewhat ambivilent about the Korean getting a gold medal, but certainly don't think Hamm should have to give up his.

[James]

I missed it, what happened?

[BetteDavisEyes]

Yang Golden in Seoul // September 22, 2004

Korea's Yang Tae Young, the victim of a judging mistake which cost him the all-around gold medal in Athens, has received gold-medal treatment at home in Seoul.
In an award ceremony held Wednesday in Seoul, Yang received a substitute gold medal from the Korean Olympic Committee, as well as a $20,000 prize reserved for Olympic gold medalists.

"We are making it clear at home and abroad that the international sports circle should guarantee fair judgement," read a statement from the Korean Olympic Committee.

During the Olympic all-around final in Athens, Yang was incorrectly given a 9.9 Start Value on his parallel bars routine instead of a 10.00. The Koreans state that they immediately protested the Start Value through a Korean judge, but were ignored. Yang received the bronze medal, .049 behind gold medalist Paul Hamm of the U.S.

The International Gymnastics Federation acknowledged the mistake and suspended the three judges responsible for the error, but stated that they were unable to change the results. The FIG requested that Hamm voluntarily give his gold medal to Yang, which he declined to do.

The Korean Olympic Committee has appealed the results to Switzerland's Court of Arbitration for Sport, which will hear the case on Monday. Both Yang and Hamm are scheduled to travel to Switzerland for the hearing.

"I had a really tough time in Athens because of the controversy," Yang told the AP. "But I got encouragement from many people who sympathized with me. I am happy and thankful that I received a gold medal of sorts today. I hope that I can reclaim my real gold in Switzerland."


I got this from the International Gymnast website. It's a load of crock. Sore loser, sour grapes, etc...

[AChiOAlumna]

Originally posted by BetteDavisEyes
I got this from the International Gymnast website. It's a load of crock. Sore loser, sour grapes, etc...

I've been saying this from the start...if the reverse was true and the Americans had gotten ripped off by the judges, they would be fighting like heck to keep the gold for themselves....

They need to move on and start focusing on the 2008...maybe they can make a comeback?? If they keep this up though, their presence in gymnastics will not be popular at the 2008 Olympics...

[James]

If he won, he won. I don't care what nation he is from. Also, what athlete would want a medal he really didn't win?

This sounds like a technical error. Like losing a weight lifting competition because the judges counted your bar as 40 pounds instead of 45 pounds.

Once you correct the technical error the medals should go to the person with the best performance.

This is not a normal case of sour grapes where you are protesting a debateable foul or something.

[AChiOAlumna]

Originally posted by James
If he won, he won. I don't care what nation he is from. Also, what athlete would want a medal he really didn't win?

This sounds like a technical error. Like losing a weight lifting competition because the judges counted your bar as 40 pounds instead of 45 pounds.

Once you correct the technical error the medals should go to the person with the best performance.

This is not a normal case of sour grapes where you are protesting a debateable foul or something.

However, there is footage that shows that the Korean gymnast wouldn't have won anyway due to a technicality on the parallel bars...but of course no one is pointing this out...

[mu_agd]

Originally posted by AChiOAlumna
However, there is footage that shows that the Korean gymnast wouldn't have won anyway due to a technicality on the parallel bars...but of course no one is pointing this out...

i was just coming to point this out. i love how he is conveniently not talking about that.

[Peaches-n-Cream]

Originally posted by mu_agd
i was just coming to point this out. i love how he is conveniently not talking about that.

I was just thinking the same thing.

[dakareng]

Originally posted by AChiOAlumna
However, there is footage that shows that the Korean gymnast wouldn't have won anyway due to a technicality on the parallel bars...but of course no one is pointing this out...

Actually, I heard Paul Hamm being interviewed on his way to Switzerland (with his lawyers) saying that if they allow the tape review to change the start value, they should also allow tape review to take the additional deduction that was missed (and I'll lay odds that his lawyers have an appeal all mapped out to do just that if the arbitration goes against him). Lost in all this is the silver medalist who will have to also give up HIS medal should Paul have to give up the gold. It isn't a gold-for-bronze swap.

[James]

I think they should share the Gold Medal and that Hamm should offer to share the Gold medal.


http://www.chicagosportsreview.com/c...w.asp?c=121093


Paul Hamm, In Keeping Medal, Misses Opportunity

Friday, August 27, 2004

By Tom Alexander
The moment when Paul Hamm hit his high bar routine was one of the most electrifying sports moments I’ve ever seen.

I can’t recall seeing something that I immediately felt was so outstanding, and I can’t really recall being more happy for someone than I was for Paul Hamm. He came back from disaster, and based off of performance, he certainly deserved his gold medal.

I watch sports for a living, and what this guy did on the bar, and (in general) in competition throughout the Olympics was truly exceptional. During play, he’s one of the most spectacular athletes in America right now.

That said, off the field of play, I don’t think he gets it.

I believe pretty firmly that if the situation was reversed, and it was Hamm who had been slighted the Gold Medal, that there would have been enough clamor that he’d have received one as well. Judges errors notwithstanding, I think it’s hard to fathom a situation that the United States, the United States Olympic Committee, and the very dedicated fans of this country would let such an atrocity deny the truth. It simply would not have happened.

I watched the Olympics men’s all-around, and Paul Hamm destroyed the competition. Save for his fall on the vault, he’d have coasted to a gold medal victory. He had to give up ½ a point (which is like a ten-yard head start in the hundred meters) just so it would be close. His performance, simply put, was gold medal worthy, and that of a champion.

He is missing the opportunity, though, to lay down a serious message to the rest of the world: that the United States is a benevolent power, in search of justice and truth and honesty, whatever the cost. I don’t think Paul Hamm gets how much impact he can have on the world.

There is no denying that giving up a gold medal, for an Olympic athlete, is an enormous sacrifice. Hamm deserves his medal, and Hamm deserves to be lauded for his performances. But Hamm has an opportunity to do something that is extraordinary, that embodies the Olympic spirit, that transcends sports.


If Paul Hamm stood up, and gave a speech in which he said, “I would like to either A) share the gold medal or B) pass along my gold medal to gentleman from Korea,” it would not be an admission of defeat.

It would not be an admission that he had been outperformed, nor would it be an admission that he is not as good as the Korean gymnast. It would simply be an admission that Paul Hamm, as a representative of the United States, is willing to do whatever it takes for justice, no matter the cost.

I think Paul Hamm underestimates the rousing support he’d receive from the American public for such an action, and I think he fails to acknowledge how much we’d all suffer with him should he give up his gold medal. I think he feels like the world is against him (he’s said as much), and I think he is wrong.

I think the world is with him, hurting for him, understanding the predicament in which he’s found himself. I think the world, deep down, wants him to do this right. They want him to give us an example of honor over accolades.

Athletes put together remarkable performances every day. Some are recognized, some are not; some have huge influence in their sport, some have less. But once in awhile, a situation comes along where an athlete has a real and genuine opportunity to change the world-a chance to provide a lesson to every person on the globe about what how people should treat each other, and what is truly important at the end of the day.

Paul Hamm is an Olympic hero, to be sure. He’s an amazing athlete as well. Both of these, however, pale in comparison with the opportunity that he has to be an example for the world.

These opportunities are fleeting, and far-between, and I hope he recognizes this, before it’s too late.

[Kevin]

It's a competitive sport. Had the judges been perfect all the way through, Hamm would have won and I believe I heard the Korean wouldn't have even medaled.

That's what really gets me on this story. The guy should just thank his lucky stars that they missed the deduction on the bars.

[BetteDavisEyes]

Sports' high court to hear appeal of Hamm gold
Story Tools: Print Email
Associated Press
Posted: 1 hour ago

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) - One way or another, Paul Hamm's gold medal odyssey is about to end.

Whether he gets to keep the medal and the title he won a month ago in the Olympic men's gymnastics all-around will be up to the sporting world's highest authority.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport will hear the appeal Monday from a South Korean gymnast who believes he was unfairly deprived of the gold because of a scoring error.

Yang Tae-young wants CAS to order international gymnastics officials to reorder the rankings and give him the gold medal and Hamm the silver. But Hamm and the U.S. Olympic Committee promise to fight Yang's appeal as vigorously as the South Korean has battled in his quest for the gold.

"I feel like I had to win my medal in three ways, really," said Hamm, the first American man to win the all-around title. "Obviously, in competition. Then with the media. Then in court. It really feels like I've been battling this whole time."

A panel of three arbitrators will hear the appeal at CAS headquarters in Lausanne in a closed hearing. It's not known how soon they will render a decision.

Yang mistakenly was docked 0.1 points for the level of difficulty in his parallel bars routine. If Yang had received the proper score, he would have finished 0.051 points ahead of Hamm, although that assumes everything in the final rotation would have played out the same way.

Even though the International Gymnastics Federation, known as FIG, acknowledged the error and suspended the judges, it said repeatedly it wouldn't change the results because the South Koreans didn't file a protest in time.

And even if the protest had been filed in time, Hamm's supporters say an inadvertent error by judges shouldn't have caused such a maelstrom.

"I've been surprised by the whole thing," USA Gymnastics president Bob Colarossi said. "I've been saying from the very beginning that the competition was over the night the results were published. It's a bad precedent to look at field-of-play calls in court. There's a human element in sport. There are always going to be some things that happen that on review might have gone differently."

CAS traditionally does not involve itself in "field-of-play decisions," such as the scoring error that caused all these problems, but Yang had nowhere else to go. The USOC rebuffed the South Korean Olympic Committee's plea for Hamm's medal.

FIG repeatedly has said it cannot change the results of the competition, and International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge refused to get involved in the case.

The USOC is spending about $300,000 to defend Hamm's case. Hamm planned to be in Switzerland along with his attorneys, USOC legal counsel Jeff Benz and Colarossi.

"We're extremely proud of what Paul accomplished," USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel said. "We plan to vigorously defend Paul's case."



Seriously, this case has grown from tragic to pathetic. Yeah it sucks but foul calls & bad calls can change the outcome of any sport. This Korean guy is just a sore loser who can't accept that he did not win nor would he have won. If you're going to change the results, why not go back & inspect all previous competitions for mistakes. Then all the outcomes would change.

[RUgreek]

Whatever happened to tough luck? (you may substitute another 4 letter word)... I mean, I understand it's unfair and all that crap, but really, when did we start using courts to decide sports.

If this is what's in store for athletics around the world, then next they'll have arbitration for the world series or superbowl because of human error. The medals should stand once they are handed to the winner. Unless a participant breaks a rule (doping or cheating) then you are just a sore loser in my opinion.

Life is a bitch, but not everyone gets their medal


RUgreek

[hottytoddy]

Has this Korean guy completely LOST HIS MIND!!!! There were things that he did wrong in his routine that the judges did not take deductions on!!! If they want to go back and review the tape and have his start value raised then they should go back and also take the additional (fair) dedections.

He'll end up right back where he started. I'm sorry...but this guy is a sore loser.

I DO NOT think Hamm should share the medal or offer to share. I wouldn't offer to share a medal just because someone started whining that it wasn't fair-- when it really was more than fair with all things being considered.

BTW: The errors that he made that the deductions were not taken on were the holds he did. You are only allowed two holds in a parallel bar routine and he had four. Automatic 2 tenth deduction.