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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...
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