Yeah, Paul Hamm missed out on a once in life time opportunity to distinguish himself as a true sportsman and his country as the embodiment of honour and integrity!

It has been well established that the Korean gymnast would have lost anyway, had his parallel bars routine been completely and correctly reevaluated. He had one too many holds, which is a two-tenths deduction not reflected in any of the judges' scores. So add one tenth for difficulty and take away two tenths for too many holds and Paul Hamm still wins.

Had Paul Hamm given his medal away only to learn that he really did deserve it, he would be the laughing stock of the nation. Furthermore, even if the Korean gymnast actually deserved the gold medal, handing over the gold after the competition was over is a bad president. Would we then be obliged to comb through every gymnastic routine looking for judging errors? As far as I'm concerned, in the absence of corruption, once a medal is awarded, it's final.

And when you try to tie this Paul Hamm attitude to George W. Bush--that's really sick. Paul Hamm spent his whole life becoming a gymnast--not a hero. He should keep his gold medal for his gymnastic talent. He should not give it away to be a "hero."

"a bad president" == George W. Bush

;-)

Nice to put all of the blame on Paul's shoulders.
Where is the accountability from the Korean team, including Tae-Young, for making sure that the judges had the accurate start value?
I guess it is easier to pass the buck and blame Paul then to say "you know what, we screwed up because we weren't paying attention. In addion, the rules are clear regaring making a protest, and we didn't follow the rules...shame on us"

Would you seriously expect the winner of a super bowl to hand over the title and trophy because after the game a team realized there was a bad call in the third quarter? Of course not.

Based on the rules in place, based on the incompetence of the entire Korean coaching staff and gymnasts, the gold was correctly awarded to Paul.

Craig: The error that cost Tae-Young a tenth of a point and the one you describe here are apples and oranges.. but regardless, I never said Tae-Young would have won if it was called correctly.. In that case each of them would have been responding to different odds and different pressures, and may have reacted differently, so the truth is we'll never know the answer to that question. And at this point it's really not the question that matters anyway.

Had Paul Hamm given his medal away only to learn that he really did deserve it, he would be the laughing stock of the nation.

Are you kidding me? That would have only raised his stock even higher! I can understand hy it was hard for Paul Hamm to see this from his position, but giving that medal back was a no-brainer.

Have you ever competed in sports? I have, in track - high school and college. When the officials make a call, that's it - there are no "do overs". In football, they allow for instant replay - but personally, I dislike that as well. Mistake or not, the event ended with Hamm on top. The IOC should leave well enough alone - they are making the situation worse. They should emulate baseball unpires who rarely (if ever) discuss calls, even when those calls were demonstrably wrong. The officials are part of sports, for good and ill.

And those of you who are attempting to apply some kind of political meaning to this - you're clueless idiots. Go find a cluestick and beat yourselves with it.

Pat:

1. Yeah you're right, I really should have started off by making it clear that Paul Hamm doesn't deserve all of the blame for what happened... oh wait, I did do that.

2. The Superbowl and the Olympics are not at all comparable, the Olympics have a completely diffferent history and purpose, and events that take place there have vastly different meanings.

James: I agree the IOC and the IGF flubbed this, and never should have put Hamm in this position. But once he was there, I just wish he'd made a difference choice.

Where can I purchase one of these cluesticks you speak of?

Hmm, I reread the post and I don't see where you think others are to blame..I see "Olympic officials should just give another gold" (even though the Korean didn't win)..I see "tough spot for Paul, but he isn't a champion because he didn't give up his gold"(which he won by following the rules)...I see "Paul was blinded by his pride"..but no mention that the Korean team is to blame, that the judges are to blame

I think that rules are in place for a reason. (could be because my Dad was a cop) Those rules, barring some type of mischief, should be followed. If the Koreans choose (key word) not to follow the rules and don't pay attention to scores (part of their job), and choose not to follow the rules regarding a protest, then they are 100% responsible.

re;SB and olympics, I don't know that history and purpose have anything to do with it. Both are based on playing games and following rules (I wish I could play games to the level all of these athletes can play).

With that said, I am sure that you and I will continue to disagree, but isn't that what makes the world a great place to be!

-pat

apples in oranges

In what way? They are both measured completely objectively. In fact, the difference between 3 holds and 4 holds is much easier to understand than however they determine what makes a 9.9 start value and a 10.0 start value.

Any way you apply the rules fairly, Hamm wins. Either you review both mistakes, or you don't.

Why don't we just give everyone a gold medal?!? After all, in the Liberal America, we shouldn't reward performance, that would make people feel bad. Let's just reward everyone for showing up.

(I wouldn't normally use the phrase Liberal America this way, but the idea that this has anything to do with George Bush is pretty funny.)

Actually, judging the "holds" is supposedly more subjective than the criteria for assigning a start value.

i totally agree with you. i think that paul hamm is being selfish.

Sorry to break it to all of you, but unfortunately, George W. Bush is in fact the one responsible in this incident.

As a fellow Midwesterner, I believe Paul Hamm deserves his medal. For those of you with a "political axe to grin," (i.e. liberal slant) you need a nice kick in ass. Do you really think Paul would have gotten anything in return by handing over the medal to the Korean? No. Why? Liberals can't stand seeing a white guy on top. Racist bastards

As a Midwesterner, I think being a Midwesterner has nothing to do with this. My gosh, let's just go around and reiterate stereotypes of stupidity in every possible forum.

Jay's got a point... Regardless of your political leaning, you can't deny that many other nations have grown to view the United States as a country that tends to dominate and perhaps even bully others. George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and a whole host of US leaders have made decisions at times that bolster a hegemonic view of the United States throughout the world.

The Olympics is a uniquely political sports event. Look back at your history books, nearly every Olympic game has had some political dimension. Each athlete represents a country and, therefor, must place their country before their personal aims.

U.S. Relations with South Korea have been increasingly stressed (remember the protests throughout Seoul last year due to the deaths of two schoolgirls run over by American military vehicles)? It's easy to see why young South Koreans may view Paul Hamm as yet another example of American hubris. Can the U.S. afford to continue to spark thoughts of arrogance and discern among young South Koreans? Remember, they share a peninsula with one of the remaining "Axis of Evil" nations.

Straight from the Olympic's website (http://www.athens2004.com/en/Values):

"In the Olympic Games, what matters most is to share the common vision of promoting peace and friendship among all the people of the world, through the noble competition in sport."

Perhaps Paul would best exemplify the Olympic goal of peace and nobility by, at least, sharing his medal.

"If he had stepped up and given Tae-Young his gold, he would have gone down as one of the great heroes of olympic history, held up to generations of children as an icon of virtue and sportsmanship. People would would have started walking around with WWPHD bracelets. He'd be exalted for the rest of his life as the embodiment of our noble American values. And he'd be paid up the wazoo."

I think you could more safely argue that none of this would have happened.

It's ludicrous to ask Paul Hamm to give up his gold.

Andy:

Why don't you express your concerns to all those people flocking to get in this country? It seems to me their dislike for our POLICIES stops when they can't feed their families in their country of origin. In my opinion, I think part of their dislike lies in jealousy and envy. Also, not every country follows the same rules. China has Communism, we have Democracy. The hard line Iranian leadership believes in holding fast to Islam as part of their governing norm. (Where's the ACLU when you need them?HAHA) We believe in the seperation of church and state. My point is there are always going to be cultural differences. Countries are going to disagree.
Besides, why should we bow down to every country that has a grief? Are we always wrong? One incident in South Korea does not make a country of 280 million people bad. If the South Korean youth can't realize this then I feel sorry for them. What about the things that our country has done right? Was it right for us interfer in the Balkans? Should we have just let the Nazi regime rule the world?
My apologies for the previous post. I agree, it was over-the-top. (Though, there are some truths in it.)You're right, though, the Olympics "should be about promoting peace and friendship among all the people of the world." So why did we let politics interfer with them to begin with?

What?!? Sportsmanship? Bush and stubborn pride? Bad Judging? It's fucking gymnastics! Nobody cares about that shit maybe except for Katie Couric.

JSmooth is right--if Hamm had given up the gold the networks would have jumped all over it and pumped the guy up to Legend status.

On the other hand, JSmooth, you imply that the benefit of "doing the right thing" is fame and fortune. If you argue Hamm should have given up the Gold, he should have done it for the intrinsic value of doing so, not for the ancillary benefits that would have come with such an act.

That, in my view, is the biggest problem with this whole controversy--Hamm was in it for the gold, not for the money. And since he wanted to keep the gold, he got roasted in the media for doing so.

Damn, Jay Smooth. As you mentioned on a comment to one of my Paul Hamm posts, we are on the same page. In fact, we're so on the same page that you probably think I plagiarized you. But then, I think you plagiarized me.

Dope site, by the way.

Wow, just an awful article. You jump from one idea to another with no connection. And then you try and turn the event into something similar to america today. Beyond a stretch.

Not surprising you writing on the web and not a real publication.

Pitiful.

For those of you who think that Hamm should give up his gold:
#1 Are you American? If yes, stop complaining.
#2 Would you give up an Olympic gold medal if you believed that you rightfully deserved it? I highly doubt it.
3.It is true that they could add the tenth to the Korean's score and he would have won the gold medal,but then take away the two tenths for having four holds, and as Paul Hamm said himself, the Korean guy would have gotten fourth.
Basically- rules are rules for a reason.The Koreans should have appealed during the appropriate time and because they did not do that, well, as we say in America, for those that support fellow Americans, shit happens.
We have not lost sight of "doing the right thing". A Korean is trying to take away a gold medal rightfully awarded, and we are the ones not doing the right thing? For all of you that think he is selfish, well I'm sure you have faults as well so please have a nice day somewhere else. I hear Korea is nice this time of year.
PS- If you think he missed out on a once in a life time opportunity to distinguish himself, just remember- many of us will never get an opportunity such as his anyway, so how can you judge?

I feel bad for Paul Hamm. He comes into the Olympics as World All-Around Champion, leads his team to a silver medal, and makes one of the greatest comebacks I've ever seen in gymnastics, but yet that isn't what anyone remembers. And it is what anyone is going to remember. He DID win the gold, was given the gold, and there is nothing for the Koreans to be complaining about. If anything, they should shut their mouths, and Tae-Young should run as fast as possible in the other direction with his bronze medal. After the video review, it has been discovered that he not only did not win the gold medal, but he didn't even win the bronze. Where's his sportsmanship? Shouldn't he give back his medal? No, apparently not. But Paul Hamm should give back the gold medal he rightfully earned. Yeah, that's fair. I just hope people will eventually forget about this controversy and maybe Paul Hamm will win another gold at the next Olympics. It won't matter. He's selfish and unsportmanlike, and didn't give back a medal he knew he had won. What was he thinking?

I think that this is totally wrong...I think Paul Hamm handled himself good...and by watching the videos it has been proven that there were more mistakes that would have cost yang-tai the gold. I think if anything Paul Hamm showed his true love for the sport and made America very proud with his performance. I also believe that if the coaches were really worried about it they would have noticed the mistake way before the competition had ended. So I say way to go Paul...I love ya!!!

Hamm is a loser. Anyone who fell into the judges tables like that is no gold medalist.

Judging holds isn't a subjective criteria. If the gymnast in question holds his position for two seconds or more, that's a hold. It doesn't matter if it was intentional or an accident on the gymnast's part. It doesn't matter if the judges like the hold or not. It's a hold, and the rules for that routine say only three are allowed. Yang Jae-Young did four. There is absolutely nothing subjective to consider about the scoring in that circumstance. .20 points should have been deducted but weren't. That would have washed out the .10 that should have been awarded but were not.

Regardless of what we think about the situation... about whether or not Hamm should have won after falling... about whether or not the judging was in error or correct... the bottom line is that the rules were followed. Everything that was done was done according to a set of rules that everyone, INCLUDING the Koreans, agreed to abide by.

Even Yang Jae-Young knows it. When asked about the situation at the medalists' news conference, he had this to say:

"What's done is done. I got this result because of my own mistake, so I should not complain. I must accept the outcome."

That the Koreans are now not doing so, that the FIG is backpedaling even in the face of the IOC standing firm that the final standings are the correct ones, is irrelevant. The rules were followed and Paul Hamm won. I see no reason why he should feel the need to give up his medal, or even be gracious about being hounded about the fact he won it in the first place.

I also think we should bear in mind what Paul Hamm is being asked to do, exactly. He's not being asked to accept a silver medal. No one has ever said he would be given the silver medal instead of the gold should he give his gold medal to Yang Jae-Young. He's being asked to give up his medal entirely and simply go without one, so the bronze medalist in the event can have a gold medal. The silver medalist in the event would still be allowed to keep his medal, despite the fact that he scored lower than Paul Hamm (with no one contesting that fact), who would be left medal-less.

In the end, the only way Yang Jae-Young could be certified the winner of this event is if several of the rules laid down by the IOC and the FIG were broken for him, and if in doing so the FIG chose to only pay attention to the errors made that would help Yang, and ignore the ones that would hurt his case.

And in any case, the start value of exercises are posted BEFORE the exercise takes place. The Koreans had time before the event even happened to make sure the score was correct, and should have been very well aware that the start value was incorrectly assigned, and yet they chose to do nothing about it before their gymnast competed. That they looked at an incorrect start score and ignored it until afterward suggests they were doing nothing more than hedging their bets in an underhanded way to give their gymnast any advantage they could, even an unethical one.

All three medalists, including Paul Hamm should have given up their medals. The FIG and IOC should have sorted this out and then redistributed the medals. Unfortunately, the current situation is making the athletes look bad. Paul Hamm is the best male gymnast this country has ever seen. Instead of people praising him, they are making negative comments. If you all are really interested in the big picture, you would admire and respect the talet that Paul Hamm has displayed. It's not his fault that the judging in the olympics let everyone down. I'd like to see a football player give up their SuperBowl ring if two days later a "bad call" is discovered on instant replay. It just wouldn't make sense. Paul's situation is no different than that. (The Koreans waited 2 days to lodge a protest.)

Paul, if you are reading this. I was a gymnast in high school and college. I am amazed by your talent, and support any decision that you make. You are the real deal, the world's best gymnast!

Instant replay isn't the only analogy applicable here.

Instant replay is analogous to Yang's extra "hold". You're not going to change the football game outcome Monday morning because of the replay reviews.

Let's talk a 5th down. Some college (Cornell?) won a big game that came down to the wire. Realizing that they were given 5 downs in the last seconds before their victory, they (gladly and honorably) relinquished the ref-assisted "win" over to the other team, after the fact.

Yang's erred start value was a 5th down and just.... not right.

That's why Hamm should have relinquished the gold to Yang.

ACtually you are incorrect when it comes to the deduction that should have been taken for the extra hold. In gymnastics, there are certain required elements and others such as hold where only a certain can be done. If the gymnast does not complete the manditory element or goes over the maximum amount of other elements the deductions are manditory not subjective.

Okay, first off, instant replay is expressly against the rules of the FIG. No one should ever have reviewed Yang's performance on video to determine a) if the start value was wrong and b) if the extra hold was there because the rules of the contest require judging to be based on human observation of the event at the time.

Certainly mistakes happen, but as we can clearly see there's a whole can of worms that's unfairly opened the instant you scrap the idea of the human judging of the event at the time in favor of scrutinizing and agonizing the results through video review in this particular sport.

Second, there is NO correlation whatsoever between Yang's erroneous start score and Cornell being given a 5th down. There's a whole slew of things that hinge on that many downs being called in the course of play, not the least of which is that control of the ball changes hands, giving the other team an opportunity to move the ball and score, as well as taking it away from the team that originally had the ball.

Yang's erroneous start score had no such reverberating impact on the competition. Changing the start value would not take anything away from Paul Hamm's opportunity to score what he did, nor would it afford Yang an increased opportunity to score additional points. It would simply add .10 to his overall score, and that's it. There is NO circumstance under which it could do anything different to his score. Period.

If you want a good analogy to football, then Yang's score being altered would be about the same as Notre Dame being credited five points for a touchdown instead of the required six during their game with Cornell. The problem is, Notre Dame lost this particular game by TWO, so it doesn't matter whether or not their touchdown was only given five points, because even if you changed it, the fact would remain that they still LOST THE GAME.

Paul Hamm's complaint is, and I think it's a very valid one, that if you follow the rules set down for the competition, he won. There isn't any ambiguity about it. The Koreans are trying to cheat in order to win this thing, because there is NO WAY they can do so without breaking the rules. Even the FIG, who asked Paul to give up his gold medal, says that not only didn't Paul break any rules, but that according to the rules of the competition, he won the competition and the standings cannot be altered. The International Olympic Committee agrees in whole with that assessment, and they refuse even more soundly to change the results, because unlike the FIG, they refuse to even acknowledge the idea that Yang could have won the competition. Doing so in the manner the Koreans are requesting is expressly forbidden by the rules of the game.

Now then, considering that the FIG isn't a United States organization, and has as little loyalty to the U.S. as it does to Korea, and considering that the IOC is in the same boat, I would hazard a guess their decisions aren't based on some sort of prejudice in favor of Paul or against Yang in this instance... and indeed you only need to go as far as the rule book to see what they're basing their decision on.

If this were a football game that was being reviewed, the only way Yang could win this is if a conversation like the following one took place:

"Well, we told the wrong team they won. We should take the trophy away from Cornell and give it to Notre Dame."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, we scored one of Notre Dame's touchdowns wrong. They should get an extra point."

"Yeah, but didn't they lose the game by more than one point?"

"Ummm... that doesn't matter. We'll just pretend they got an extra field goal they didn't get or something."

"But what about the fact that Cornell actually scored more points? Someone's going to notice that, aren't they?"

"That's easy. We'll just pretend they weren't even at the championship game."

And no, that's not an overly skewed analysis of what would have to happen to award Yang the gold medal. It's the ONLY way it could happen. When you stack up the points Paul Hamm earned against the points Yang earned ACCORDING TO THE RULES OF THE GAME, Paul Hamm got more points. Even if you break the rules concerning video review and the filing of protests (which the Koreans want the IOC and FIG to do), and re-count the points Paul Hamm and Yang actually earned, Paul Hamm still GOT MORE POINTS.

That's why Paul should get to keep his gold medal. Because when you cut through all the protests and the cries of "Foul!", Yang's routine, even corrected for that .10 that was taken off, just wasn't as good as Paul Hamm's routine was. He didn't earn a score as high as Paul Hamm, and he never would have.

Way to go Andrew B!!! I could not agree with you more!!!!!

I will not be biased on this because I'm a S. Korean. I was born and raised there until I came to the U.S. couple years ago. As I was watching the gymnasts compete for the all-around gold, I was torn. I wanted the best gymnast in the world, Paul Hamm, to win. But I also wanted my countryman to do well. People argue that Paul does not deserve the gold medal because he fell badly on the vault. But that's why there are more than one apparatus. Out of all 28 gymnasts competing for the individual, paul scored the highest on 3 of 6 apparatus. On one other, he scored higher than the other two gymnasts who medaled (the koreans). It was even more impressive to see Paul do so well after the fall, it showed he really has the desire and determination to win, like a champion should.
People also argue that Paul Hamm does not deserve the gold medal because of the scoring error by the judges. I've watched gymnastics for many years, it happens all the time. Sometimes the judging can help or hurt you. In Yong's case, it did just that. Everyone mentions the obvious, the judges made a mistake that hurt the Korean. But they also helped him by not deducting points. It was dissapointing to see S.Korea argue about this after the medals were given out, not only because it was against the rules, but it seems ridiculous to argue only about what hurt the Korean gymnast, which is not fair. What about the error that helped Yong? I believe it worked out better that they did make this error on the start value. If they did have the right start, the Korean gymnast would have been unfairly given a higher score than he deserved. As for Paul's sportsmanship, what else can Paul do but defend himself and his gold medal? I don't think it's showing poor sportsmanship to say, hey, I played by the rules and I won the gold medal, I did nothing wrong. Why should he have to support the S.Korean gymnast, when they are the ones who couldn't help themselves in the first place? I've read many articles making this a political issue, which is very wrong. Paul's not running for presidency, he's just an athlete, who did his best to win a gold medal, fairly. Other than his own performance, Paul had no control over anything else.

Maybe we should let our elected politicians (in DC and abroad) deal with mending our shaky relationships with foreign governments instead of placing that burden on Paul’s shoulders. He’s an athlete that’s worked tremendously hard his entire life, giving up so many things that the rest of us would consider part of a normal childhood and early adulthood. His whole life he has been working towards the dream of Olympic Gold… and now you want him to give that up too?? If the citizens of other countries don’t like Americans, I’m sure it’s not because of Paul Hamm. Maybe it has more to do with our “we can do whatever we want and ignore international law when it suits our needs” foreign policy. And maybe it has more to do with our cowboy hat-wearin, can’t form a coherent sentence, I’ll drop bombs without concrete proof President that we elected… oh wait, that was the Supreme Court…

And yes people, the citizens across the world DO think we Americans are all a bunch of six-shooter packin, cowboy bullies because that is what they perceive our President to be! And unfortunately they think that because that’s what they see on their TVs, that and Jay-Lo and Michael Jackson… rock on!

So the point is, leave Paul alone. Let him enjoy his Gold Medal that he clearly and fairly won and leave the job of repairing our shaky foreign relationships the guys we elected to run this crazy mixed up country.

Oh, and down with Bush!!

Paul Hamm won his medal fair and square. He did nothing wrong and followed the rules completely. I don't understamd how him giving up his gold medal would make him a champion. He already is just for winning the medal. The fact that the Koreans think Yang Tae-Young should have the medal is bogus because they have not followed by the rules and if the judges go back and look at an instant replay of the whole event they will see that the Korean should have had a two tenth deduction for too many holds (he had four - one more than the maximum three) so even if his start value had been correct his score should be one tenth lower than he actually got.

Since gymnastics are judged by HUMANS and HUMANS MAKE MISTAKES the scores are fair and Paul Hamm should not have to give up his medal to the Koreans. Also, if Paul gives his medal up what medal would he get? The other Korean that won the silver still scored lower than Paul so does that mean that the second place Korean should give up his silver medal? Of course not and because if the scoring had been right in the first place no one should be having to give up any medals.

i think that Paul Hamm deserved that medal 100% because if they went back and reviewed Pauls routines then they would have to go back and review everone who competed that night and Paul Hamm would have come out on top and it is wrong to ask someone to just give up a medal that they deserved and they no that he deserved it

"Paul Hamm won his medal fair"

Give me a break!
Anyone,who saw his performance and the game, knows who the real winner is.( unfortunately except some American people. people knows who is behind of the show.)

"Since gymnastics are judged by HUMANS and HUMANS MAKE MISTAKES the scores are fair and Paul Hamm should not have to give up his medal to the Koreans"

( Well..you're right.we are not "perfect", so we make mistakes every day.
But, if someone is hurt by the mistakes, is it excuse every time by the name of "human mistakes"? if it happens to American team in any sports next time, can you say,"All right, it's human mistakes. I don't care..... it's your gold medal."
Wow.... What a wonderful appreciation!
Thank. you're the real man! Then would you give up your money when the bank makes mistakes?)

"now you want him to give that up too?? If the citizens of other countries don’t like Americans, I’m sure it’s not because of Paul Hamm."
( of course because of him..... he exchanges his sportsmenship to gold medal.he sold his honor to darkside. He said he is the right person to be deserved to have gold medal on one of T.V shows. Come on.....)

"because if the scoring had been right in the first place no one should be having to give up any medals"
( well. that's not true. if you know what the sportsmenship is. it's not talking about the gold or siver but honor and pure competion. I think you have seen a lot of commecial sports without sportsmenship.)

Since after a review of the routine it was determined that two scoring errors occurred, why are you only focusing on the error that hurt the South Korean gymnast and not the one that helped him?

Simple question someone please answer...

Actually, the Americans aren't behind the gymnastics competition, and never were. I'm sure if it were really an American sponsored event, we would still play fairly and respect the rules. However, if it's an American run and American biased competition, don't you imagine that an American would have won the all-around gold at some point in the one hundred some-odd years the Olympics have been taking place before this?

Paul Hamm is the only American male to ever have won the award, so I'd say either we're not being biased, or we're doing a very good job of being tricky. I mean, it was quite a plan losing twenty seven olympics in a row just so we could pull off that ruse and seize the gold on the twenty-eighth run.

Give me a break, folks. Leave Mulder and Scully in retirement where they belong and keep the X-Files closed. The Lone Gunmen aren't running here, and there isn't any dark shadow conspiracy to rob people going on.

Besides, all this controversy over gymnastics, and I don't hear anyone crying foul that the Chinese judge was removed from the diving competition because he was being blatantly biased in favor of the Chinese divers. That certainly skewed the competition, putting the Chinese divers in a much better position than they deserved to be in. Arguably, one of the Chinese divers might not even have made it into the final rounds of diving, thus clearing the way for Alexandre Despatie (who is NOT an American... let me say that in advance) to win a medal, which he was shut out of.

Has anyone thrown a fit over the fact that this happened? No. The rules of the competition were observed. The judge was exused and the competition continued in all fairness... the results of the competition were accepted and the medals were awarded.

The Olympic Gymnastics competition isn't run by Americans. It is held by the International Olympic Committee, which is based in Lausanne, Switzerland (a country absolutely rabid about its lack of bias). It is certified valid by the Federation Internationale De Gymnastique, based out of Moutier... also in Switzerland.

Believe me, the Swiss have absolutely no loyalty to the United States, and have a long history of telling us to go stuff it whenever it suits them. They do that to every single last other country in the world, in fact. That's why these things are held there... because if there's a single people on the face of the Earth who can pull off not being biased, it's them.

Paul Hamm isn't being a poor sport. He isn't displaying poor sportsmanship. He is doing exactly what a good sport should do. He is looking at the rules of the competition, and abiding by them. He did so before the competition. He did so during the competition, and now that it's over, he's still doing so. He has never, not once, wavered from his stance... which has been entirely focused on the rules of the game. In fact, in all of this, Paul Hamm is the only person involved that seems to have paid attention to the rules of the sport throughout the entire event.

And for those who don't like that, let me ask what you think should govern a game if not the rules laid down for play? That's the only thing that keeps any game or sport, from gymnastics to diving to football to water polo, being what it is. It's the only thing that allows the competition to take place fairly, and allows us to determine who the legitimate winner is in the competition...

And according to the rules that keep the gymnastics games being what they are and allow us to determine who the legitimate winner is in the competition, Paul Hamm won. He's exemplifying the very spirit of sportsmanship by defending the rules of the game and his gold medal. Doing anything else would not only be a betrayal of himself, but a betrayal of the sanctity and validity of the sport he competes in.

In response to Caroline, there are a couple of unfortunate reasons why everyone is focusing on the error that hurt Yang Tae Young and not the one that helped him:

1. They only know half the story. This is helped by the media reporting everwhere that Paul only won because of a "scoring error", which of course doesn't take into consideration the hold deduction. They also don't mention that scores are always debated and many controversies have come about in this and other gymanstics competitions as a result. It's not as simple as they present it. Even sports without subjective scoring have frequent unfairness and controversy.

2. Even though the hold deduction is mandatory (i.e. not subjective as some people suggested) just like stepping out of bounds on the floor exercise, it is up to the "B" panel of judges to take this deduction, because they are in charge of all deductions (the "A" panel only determines the start value of the routine). Technically you cannot protest the "B" panel's scores, only those of the "A" panel. So even though they did clearly miss a 0.2 deduction that would have lowered Young's score, there's no way within the rules to challenge their decision. The "A" panel can be protested, though only before the end of that rotation (which the Koreans reportedly did not do).

3. It's an exciting story, and like all stories, it's more dramatic if you simplify it and leave out some truth. The media is trained to do this, and it works quite well.

"Since after a review of the routine it was determined that two scoring errors occurred, why are you only focusing on the error that hurt the South Korean gymnast and not the one that helped him? "

Simple question someone please answer
( Of course,dear.....
First, the two errors you talked about are not enough to give him siver. it's not critical errors to give the gold to Paul.
But, the terrible mistakes which happened by the judges is absoutely hamming his point.)

Futhermore, look at the review of paul performance,especially last landing moment.
is it perfect? or not? didn't he make any mistake on his performance?

look at the review of two plays again.
Then, you'll find the answer which you asked before.
Thanks

The idea of Paul Hamm giving up his gold medal or even sharing that gold medal is ridiculous. Even if we forget the fact that Yang Tae Young actually got more points than he should have for his parallel bars routine, he still should not get the gold medal!!! There are more parts to a gymnastics meet than those 6 routines that each gymnast performs. There is also a set of rules that everybody needs to follow in order for the competition to be fair. The rules are in place to specifically deal with situations such as incorrect start values being given to a gymnast's routine. The Koreans did not follow these rules, for 1 of 2 reasons. Either they didn't know the rules fully or they didn't follow the rules. If they didn't understand the rules then shame on them. How can you enter an Olympic competition, the biggest event in gymnastics, and not fully understand the rules. If they did understand the rules then they didn't follow them. Again, this is their fault. They claim the judges told them to file the protest after the competition. My question is, if they did understand the rules, why did they not demand to file the protest right then knowing that if they didn't it could put their gymnast's medal hopes in jeopardy? Had it been an American gymnast whose start value was incorrect, you better believe that the American coaches would've made sure it was fixed while still following the rules. So why is everyone blaming poor Paul Hamm for mistakes he didn't make? The bottom line is that everyone understood the rules before going into that competitionn and everyone agreed to follow them. Awarding a gold to Tae-Young would break the rules that were established for this reason. If we break the rules for him should we break them for everyone else, too? What would be the point of having rules then? Someone in a post prior to this one said Hamm is a loser because he fell on the vault, but I wish they could see that the opposite of that statement is true. The fact that he fell, kept his cool and still performed impeccable routines afterwards is a testament to what an amazing champion he is. Many lesser athletes would've crumbled under the pressure. He didn't and the fact that he could still even be in medal contention, let alone win gold, after such a low score shows how great an athlete he is. So I will continue support Paul as the true champion and I hope the rest of you will, too. He earned it!

Thank you, Orion. I agree with you. It is really unfortunate that very few people in the media even mention the second scoring error. What is even more sad is that the only person not at all responsible for this (Paul) is probably really being hurt by all of the negative things said about him.

Thank you, Orion. I agree with you. It is really unfortunate that very few people in the media even mention the second scoring error. What is even more sad is that the only person not at all responsible for this (Paul) is probably really being hurt by all of the negative things said about him.

to Lee:

Simple question someone please answer

"First, the two errors you talked about are not enough to give him siver. it's not critical errors to give the gold to Paul.
But, the terrible mistakes which happened by the judges is absoutely hamming his point.)"

I am confused by this stated. The two errors are not enough to give who the silver? They are, i fact, enough to give Young the bronze not silver.

"Futhermore, look at the review of paul performance,especially last landing moment.
is it perfect? or not? didn't he make any mistake on his performance?"

No on eis saying that Paul performance was perfect or else he would have received a 10.00.I am just saying that, on that night he received the highest scores on 3 out of 6 events this making him the best gymnast.

Dear : Caroline

I am confused by this stated. The two errors are not enough to give who the silver? They are, i fact, enough to give Young the bronze not silver.
( well. that's not real. As I told you, look at the review of two players very closely. Paul made more critical errors on his performance. as a matter of fact, he is out of medal. he didn't land very well several times. again..is he better landing more than the other guys?)

No on eis saying that Paul performance was perfect or else he would have received a 10.00.I am just saying that, on that night he received the highest scores on 3 out of 6 events this making him the best gymnast.
( the highest scores? where this scores came from? It's from the judges who made a mistake.
Is it reliable or objective?

Let's me tell you one thing.
You're talking now that everying is fair, and there is no mistake about his gold.
Then I sugguest you to ask this issue to other nations,Russia,china or westen countires except Korea or United States.

Then, do they agree with you or me?
In addition, Russian guy's perfomance is better than paul.

Lee, what are you basing your statements on? Just your opinion that Paul is inferior? He is the reigning world all-around champion and he won the qualifying and final rounds at the Olympics. Are you saying all of that was just bad judging?

Why would international judges want an American to win? You think this is favoritism of some kind?

You only mentioned landings as mistakes of Paul's. He only had one poor landing, which was on his vault. His other routines were excecuted extremely well. I haven't heard anybody argue that point except you (and yes, that includes people from many different countries).

Lee, I am not trying to be confrontational so please do not take anything say that way but... Gymnastic has always been a subjective sport. Judges base their scores on what they see in real time. This is why we do not go back and review the tapes. If we were to to review every gymnasts performance on every event we might in fact see errors that are missed when they are viewed in real time. As someone who competed in gymnastics for many years I can tell you that sometimes you feel your score is too low and other times you feel your score is higher than you expected. It is simply the nature of the sport. Most artist sports are the same way. In watching the diving competitions I saw scores vary by as a much as 2 1/2 points. It is not because people are striving to be dishonest it is simply the nature of beast.

Again not meaning to be confrontational but I disagree with your evaluation of Paul and Young. When I reviewed the competion (I taped all of the gymnstics) I thought Young's routines were often sloppy at times and felt Sucio (who finished Fourth) was much stronger than Young on most of the events. But this is why you and I are not judges. Let us not forget taht Paul Hamm came into the olympics as the World Champion so other judges must have also felt that he was a Champion as well. The US is obviously not paying judges off or anything like that or else this would not be our first gold medal in this event.

As far as the question about whether or not the situation is fair... Is it fair to totally disregard the rules governing the sport ie. the time in which an athlete has to bring an error to the attention of the judges, which is the end of the following event and not the next day. Is it fair to ask that rules be changed to benefit you but no one else?

In fact, most countries are not in agreement with you. I don't remember which channel but some athletes from other countries where questioned and they basically said that the rules are in place for a reason.

I'm sorry we don't see eye to eye but I am a fairly open minded person and I truly do believe that Paul deserved to win. I guess we will all have to wait and see what happens at the next world championship and in Beijing.

I'm in agreement with Caroline and Orion on this one. One of the Romanian gymnasts who didn't medal said Paul got more than he deserved. However, I haven't heard any other voices of dissent from the athletes concerning whether or not Paul Hamm should have won the gold, and if you'll see my previous comments, that includes a quote by Yang himself saying he didn't deserve the gold medal because of his own mistakes... and while it isn't a statement about Paul's all-around gold medal, you have to remember that Alexi Nemov actually got up in Paul's defense later in the meet during a high bar exercise in which Paul beat Alexi to win silver. I don't imagine he would have done so if he thought Paul Hamm was an uncharitable cheat.

As for whether or not other countries besides the United States think Paul Hamm deserve his medal, I will again point out that the competition was held, judged, and certified by organizations headquartered in Switzerland, not the United States... and we have already had someone FROM SOUTH KOREA ring in during the course of this discussion to say that Paul Hamm deserved his gold medal, so no, I don't think there's a worldwide consensus against Paul Hamm in this matter.

What is the whole point of sports? It is to play the game, play it good, and play by the rules. Which is exactly what Paul Hamm did, and by doing so, he won the gold. If the South Korean had a problem with the score, he had a chance to protest after his performance. They have a time limit to these things and since they did not follow the rules, then he has no leg to stand on. Paul Hamm is a gold medal winner, end of story, period. Now can't we support him instead of giving him crap. Doesn't everyone have to follow the rules, or shall we just make up special ones so that all those who screw up get an extra chance. How would that be fair? Shall we go back to super bowl XX and call that penalty in the five yard line so that the touchdown is overturned and history is changed? Come on, get off Pauls back. This crap is making me sick and I feel awful for what Paul has to go through.

Susan and Andrew B., I couldn't agree with you more.

It truly fascinates me how: 1) so many people who are completely uninformed about this issue seem to have a steadfast opinion on it, and 2) many journalists who clearly know nothing about gymnastics seemily feel qualified enough to render a verdict on what Paul Hamm should do now.

We all know that Yang Tae-Young's parallel bar start value was too low (which should have been corrected by his COACHES BEFORE the competition was over), and that Yang was also not deducted two-tenths of a point that he should have been for an extra hold. While this certainly justifies Paul's rightful claim to the gold medal, the real point to be made here is that all of this SHOULDN'T EVEN BE AN ISSUE.

The South Korean coaches, just as all the coaches, had the opportunity to correct errors before the rotations were over. It has been publicly stated how the U.S. coaches contested the start values of some of their athletes during competition. The Korean coaches, on the other hand, didn't do the same for Yang Tae-Young. And so, the competition ended, and Paul was at the top of the podium wearing the gold. There is no video review, there is no amending the results. We can never know what may have happened had Yang's start value been right, maybe the pressure of being on top would have been too much and he wouldn't have even medaled. The point is we can't go back, the competition is over, the final results are the final results.

But no, the media has taken this story and ran with it. And it is their reporting of half-truths and editorials by uninformed writers that has propelled this story into the stratosphere. (I don't mean to bash the media here, I am myself a journalist, but I am truly disgusted by what I've seen in my profession thus far.)

And then of course, there is the FIG, whose continual public displays of incompetence continues to give the media something to salivate over. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only person struck by how Paul Hamm - the athlete - seems to be the only person in his sport who respects and is governed by its rules. The FIG doesn't seem to realize that in its cowardice, it is undermining the very thing that gives it its legs to stand on: the rules of the sport.

While I consider the FIG to be a laughing stock at this point, one bright spot in this mess is the person at its very center - Paul Hamm. I am continually impressed by this young man. You want to talk about sportsmanship and integrity? Just look at the diplomatic way he handled himself during those first 10 days when USA Gymnastics and the USOC -- which are supposed to have his back -- left him twisting in the wind to defend himself. (Don't even get me started on how the FIG has treated him!) Paul's demonstration of strength of character throughout all of this has been truly amazing. Not only is he a tremendous athlete, he has also proven himself to be a tremendous person - one who stands up for what he knows in his heart to be right and is unwilling to compromise himself or his sport for the sake of (misguided) public opinion and pressure.

And for those of you out there who disagree with me and think Paul should relinquish his gold medal to Yang, let me point out a few things. First of all, even if he were to physically hand over his gold medal, he will still be credited in the history books as the winner. No athlete has the power to go back and change the results after a competition is over - that is a clear violation of the rules, and would be a sign of disrespect for the rules and the sport. Secondly, Paul simply handing over his gold is not what the Koreans want. They do not want HIS medal, they want their OWN gold medal. And that is simply not going to happen because, as the USOC President has said, there are no grounds for awarding a duplicate gold medal in this case.

I think this will always be a devisive topic of sorts because some people are simply unwilling to see the whole picture. But in an attempt to bridge that gap, let me spell it out in no uncertain terms...

Judging gymnastics is subjective and always has been. (Perhaps the judging system needs tweaking, but that line of questioning is irrelevant here.) Judges can and do make mistakes, but the coaches are given opportunities to address those mistakes and have them corrected before the competition is over. Once the game clock has expired and play has officially ended, the results are tallied up and the winner is crowned. Period, end of story.

What we have here is simply a case of the Korean coaches not utilizing the corrective opportunities afforded to them. There are NO grounds whatsoever to blame the athletes: it's not Paul Hamm's fault he scored what was necessary to win the gold, and it's not Yang Tae-Young's fault that his start value was too low and not corrected by his coaches. And it's not even the judges fault necessarily for giving Yang too low a start value -- why do you think the rulebook gives coaches the opportunity to correct those mistakes? It's like a checks-and-balances system.

If you're looking to blame anyone here, it should be the Korean coaches for not paying attention enough to correct Yang's parallel bar start value within the alloted time. And, you can also point the blame finger at the FIG for being so highly incompetent as to pass the blame onto the most vulnerable and innocent person involved - Paul Hamm, the athlete.

Ummm, I don't see how no one could not have noticed Young's 4th stop, which incurs a 2 tenth deduction. I mean, people are saying how Hamm's a bad sportsman or "not a champion" or whatever and yet they say nothing of how Young got a break for that fourth stop. If he were smart he would keep his mouth shut, 'cause he should be in 5th place or whatever. In fact, if I were in 4th or 5th I would make a fuss over this 'cause he wouldn't even be medal-worthy if they gave him that tenth he deserved for his start value and then took away the 2 tenths for the extra stop. Get the story straight, and the whole story, you morons, and stop acting like you know what you're talking about.

Actually, since there is a .126 difference between Yang's score and the score of the fourth place finisher (Romanian gymnast Ioan Suciu), so Yang's score, even adjusted for both errors (which would result in a net loss of .10 points), would still leave him .026 points ahead of the fourth place finisher, and winner of the bronze medal, so he deserves the bronze that he won in any case. He just doesn't deserve the gold.

Yes Andrew, but again, that's if everything would have played out the same way. We must also take into consideration that the psychology of the athletes would have also changed had the standings been different going in to the final event. As we saw, many athletes buckled under the pressure toward the end, which is what helped Paul Hamm make that jump from 12th to 4th place going into his high bar routine. While we can review this matter in terms of the final point totals, we simply cannot know how the mental and emotional components -- which are just as important in sport as the physical component if not more so -- would have affected each athlete's performance that night.

No, actually we don't have to take psychology into account at this point. The meet's over. The scores have been established. How the athletes MIGH have performed under different circumstances is irrelevant. I MIGHT have won the gold medal in Athens myself if I hadn't shattered my foot in college, rendering me incapable of walking without a severe limp, let alone running or jumping ever again. That's not the point.

The point is what did happen, which is absolutely what the Koreans are complaining about... what DID happen. So the ONLY things we have to consider at this point are a) adding .10 points to the overall score of Yang's routine to account for the start value error, and b) subtracting .20 points for the error of the extra hold, which wasn't properly taken into account on his routine.

Unless you're going to completely cancel out everyone's score and re-hold the competition from the point at which the parallel bar routines were scored, the psychology of the athletes, how they would have performed differently if the scores had been different, etc... etc... etc... are all entirely irrelevant because as you very rightly point out, there is absolutely nothing that can be done to even predict what the effect might have been, let alone change anything based on it. The only thing that can be taken into account at this point is what can possibly be changed.

Hence my earlier statement that the only possible effect changing the start value of Yang's score could have is adding .10 of a point, and the only thing that taking the missed deduction into account could possibly have is taking off .20 of a point. There isn't a single other thing that can possibly be taken into account at this point. The Koreans made sure to eliminate any other "real life" uncertainties from the mix with the way they chose to protest the results...

So the end result of all of this is that the only thing anyone could do would be to adjust Yang's score to take both errors into account, which gives him a 57.674 final score, leaving him just ahead of Ioan Suciu's score of 57.648 and still in bronze medal position, with Paul Hamm still in gold medal position with a final score of 57.823.

What might have been, I'm sorry to say, is just lost in the mists of a past gone by.

Edit: MIGH = MIGHT.

Dear : Caroline and the other guys.

Guys, unfortunately. your sayings are just the same way the commecial media made.
Again, remember there are still two different views around the world.
This views can not change anyway..whatsoever.

But,Remember it happens to other countries next game.

You guys are talking about technical issues which are published by American media,which makes a hero.
Keep in mind that "Techical issues" can be changed any time by different views.

If he is a real winner, he is deserved to be respected by other nations as well as America.
Then,is he respected by all around the world?

And if he is a real winner, why are still arugements about his victory? because do they come from only hateness of Korean people?

is it the only matter between korean and American?

Do not make this isusse simplyfy,guy.

The real issues are that the fact of "judges are wrong" and " What is the next?"

Do you have a comment about my two issues?

How disappointing that you used an Olympic athlete's experience to espouse your political views. One athlete's actions do not represent either the Presidency or the state of affairs in the U.S. You should be ashamed....

Dear Lee,

We are trying to discuss this issue by pointing out specifics of the event. Facts, reported by media around the world (not just American media), as well as opinions. If we are quoting facts and specifics and you disagree, please present us with your counter-argument. If you're not specific about why you disagree, your argument is not pursuasive. Saying that the media is wrong and the rest of the world thinks differently are general statments with no facts behind them.

I have found that the media (even the American media) makes mistakes that HURT Paul Hamm by leaving out the specifics of the scoring issue, making it look much simpler than it is.

To me this has very little to do with what country the athletes are from. I have been a gymnast and gymnastics fan for many years, and my favorite gymnasts are those from the former Soviet republics. I agree that there were some cases of poor judging and officiating in this Olympics, but I think it helped and/or hurt many athletes in many sports. Those who villianize the U.S. over this one case always seem to be people with an ax to grind against the country.

Orion once again, I completely agree with you.

Lee, I have done my best to be kind in my responses to you but I take offense to your statements. I am not making my decisions based on what American media is saying. I am basing my opinions on what I saw the night of competion. You have said things like, Paul didn't stick landings and use that as the basis of your opinion. Gymnastics is not all about the landing. It is about the routine taking as a whole. This includes such things as form breaks, missed required elements and performing too many of certain item (ie. Youngs extra hold) all of these things go into the final score. I don't know what your personal experience is in gymnastics but I for one competed for 15 years and my brother trained for many years with Bart Conner, Mitch Gaylord, Peter Vidmar etc... so I think I may have a little more knowledge than the average person on this sport. I am basing my opinions on this knowledge not on what other people say.

PS. I don't think PAul came to the olympics to be a "hero". He came to perform well and according to the rules. Both of which, he did.
PSS. I do not hate Koreans or anyone else for that matter and I don't believe anyone else here does, so please stop making comments like that. They are unnecessarily hurtful.

Lee, I look at the comments posted on another web site from time to time and decided to test your theory that only Americans believe that Paul should have won the gold.... well here are my finding... I looked at the most recent 100 entries, most were entered by Americans but there were 4 from the UK, 3 from Japan, 1 from Canada, 1 from Mexico and 2 from Australia, 1 from South Korea... all in favor of Paul keeping the medal. There were two others from South Korea that spoke out against Paul keeping the medal. I guess that kind of blows a hole in your theory Americans believe that the outcome was correct. Seems to me that based on this small sampling (I realize this is not a scientific method) most of the world agrees with the US...

Thank you Andrew B., Renee, Orion, Caroline and others for intelligently bringing to this string the whole picture and FACTS, which both JCool and Reggie Rivers obviously failed to see. It is shameful that they would attack Paul Hamm's integrity with such ignorance: " Paul Hamm has proven himself anything but a champion when he walks off the mat." It is well established that Paul Hamm is a deserving champion, protecting what he has rightfully earned.

It's a shame that the media has made such a mess of this, just to get a story or a chance get on a soap box which stands on half-truths. JCool and the media owe Paul Hamm and the public a resounding apology for tarnishing this Olympic experience. Since you all have brought common sense into the picture, I feel I can respond to JCool's abstract " he would have gone down as one of the great heroes of olympic history, held up to generations of children as an icon of virtue and sportsmanship," without having to argue the obvious, that Paul was and is the 2004 Men's All-Around Gymnastics, Olympic Champion. You all did that well. I am sad for Paul and what opinions stated in ignorance did to his "dream-come-true" experience. But I am also sad for another involved party, the public.

In the moment that Paul dismounted the high-bar, my 4 1/2 year old son (one of that "generation of children") did witness the substance of a true champion. The next day, I had my son look a an image of Paul falling into the judges table, and asked if he thought Paul should have given up. He said, "yes," because lately he has been comparing himself to his cousin who rides a tricycle faster, swims faster, runs faster. I then showed him an image of Paul clapping his hands as he walked off the mat (a champion, by the way), and told him, "this is what can happen if you don't give up." Mikey growled: he's a hard sell. "Mikey, look in his eyes." He did- he stared; and slowly, he smiled. Later, when he swung and missed while we played baseball, he laughed, "I thouldn't give up, thould I? Paw Hamm didn't" And my heart broke with joy. Isn't THAT why we watch the Olympics? Yes, to watch sports that we love, to see the winners' dreams come true, but also, to remind ourselves to be the best we can be, and to spark our kid's dreams? Please excuse my idealism, but this is the kind of stuff we should focus on after so fantastic a performance. All this controversy is sooo besides the point, because Paul is the deserving champion, plain and simple. I couldn't say this if he wasn't: just let Paul enjoy his dream-come-true, and let us have our hero, without painting a black cloud that shouldn't have been there in the first place.

Edit: Jay Smooth, not JCool. Sorry.

Viv, thank you for that personal story about your son and how Paul's accomplishment has helped him learn one of the greatest lessons in sports and in life: Never give up. I still get shivers up my spine when I rerun Paul's final high bar routine - it was truly inspiring and is as magical an Olympic moment if ever there was one.

I just looked at the routines again.
The Korean's high bar routine was awefull!
I think that score was way too high. He had many form breaks throughout the routine.
So, the bottom line is the judging was terrible. Many mistakes were made. By the rules, Paul Hamm won. Nothing should be changed.

Did the judge deduct points from Paul Hamm for illegally spotting him on the vault? (He touched him before he came to a rest.) I believe that is a deduction.

Go Paul. You deserve the Gold! You are the best gymnast the U.S. has ever had.

I think Hamm was amazing and is within his rights to keep the medal. I don't think anyone can blame him for wanting to keep it.

I think he should only return it he feels he should. Considering all of the training he went through and his performance that night, that would be both heartbreaking and magnanimous at the same time and would elevate him to the status of Ghandi. But he's a gymanst, not a nobel peace prize winner. How many people are really going for sainthood?

I think both him and Yang are victims of circumstance.

Lee,

First, let me say I believe everyone has a right to their own opinion. However, I do like some sort of supporting evidence for WHY people hold the opinion they do. Unfortunately, your argument sounds a lot like the argument I heard from eighty percent of the people around me in Oklahoma during the last Presidential election when I asked why they were planning on voting for a dangerously unqualified candidate and they replied "He's not Bill Clinton..." which pretty well summed up EVERY candidate in the election.

As near as I can tell, your entire argument comes down to "Paul Hamm doesn't deserve a gold medal because he's an American and I hate him." Fortunately, neither of these is a criteria for being an Olympic champion.

Whether or not people love Paul Hamm, or even like him, is entirely beside the point to whether or not he deserves the gold medal. Champions aren't champions because they're loved, liked, lauded, revered, awed, or feared. They're champions because they have the ability to overcome the obstacles in their way and distinguish themselves as the best among those competing against them. Whether or not you (or anyone else) like or respect the man is completely and utterly irrelevant... but as has been pointed out by several others, he has a very broad base of support.

As for your two issues "the judges were wrong", and "what comes next", this is the scoop.

The FIG admitted the judges were technically wrong about the start value and suspended all three judges, though I'm not sure they should have. The reason the start value was lowered, according to the two judges (one from Spain and one from Columbia... again, no Americans involved in making that decision), was that Yang changed his routine so that one of his elements was lower in difficulty than it was originally intended to be. Therefore, they deducted .10 points from the overall value of his routine.

The FIG technical judge who oversees these decisions (who is, admittedly, an American), did not review the decision because as a matter of course the technical judge does not review the decision unless the two start value judges disagree on the overall start value, which they didn't. They saw exactly the same thing and took exactly the same action, so there was no reason for him to review in that case. Unfortunately, the FIG determined their decision to be in error, and suspended them from future judging in order to make sure further judging errors did not occur during the competition. So there the judging was, arguably, wrong.

As for the second error, the B panel of judges, while watching the same routine, failed to score a .20 point deduction due to the fact that Yang committed four holds (and if you watch the routine very nearly committed five) in a routine where a maximum of three holds are allowed.

Now then, that's where the judging is wrong. The contention of the Korean officials in this instance is that only one of these two errors should be corrected... and they would be correct that the second error, that of the "hold" deduction, cannot be taken into account at this point because the B panel scoring cannot be questioned after the fact, nor may it be video reviewed.

The problem with this entire controversy is that the first error, that of the start value not correctly scored, cannot be taken into account at this point because the A panel scoring cannot be questioned after the end of the event, either... nor may it be video reviewed.

The Korean officials, in insisting that the performance be reviewed after the end of the event, and by video, breaks not only the rules to review the start value error, but breaks the rules in such a way that both errors can be reviewed, even if they are insisting that only one error be taken into account.

So, the bottom line of the judging controversy goes something like this:

"Yang deserves the gold because they judged his routine wrong."

"Yes, but when you look at what they judged wrong, he deserves a lower score than he actually got, not a higher one."

So that's the controversy. If you stand by the scores given, Paul wins. If you break the rules evenly and re-score Yang, Paul wins. If you break the rules to JUST take into account what can help Yang, then Yang wins... and the question is "which of those three courses of action should be taken under the circumstances"?

Personally, and I don't think anyone has missed my opinion on this up to this point, I think either you stand by the results because that's what's within the rules (what I would prefer they do), or you "break the rules fairly" and take both judging errors into account. Either course of action leaves the medal standings the same.

As for the second part, "what comes next", this is the way it stands:

1) The IOC considered the matter closed when the results were certified and the event ended. The Koreans didn't contest the results when they were afforded the opportunity to do so, and the rules say they may no longer contest the results. So, as far as the IOC is concerned, there is no controversy. Paul Hamm won his gold medal in all fairness and good sportsmanship and should get to keep it without question or without any tarnish to his abilities as an athlete. The IOC has closed the case on this matter and certifies Paul Hamm the gold medal winner of the Men's All-Around. The Koreans have no option to appeal.

2) The FIG considered the case closed and certified Paul Hamm the winner of the competition when the event ended. The only reason the President of the FIG dispatched a letter to Paul Hamm requesting he return his medal was because Paul Hamm's position on the subject was less than clear. The FIG has since made it very clear that they initially considered Paul Hamm the winner of the competition. They have made it clear they would have unilaterally supported Paul Hamm's position if he had stated his position differently to begin with, and they have made it clear now that Paul Hamm has clarified his position, they now unilaterally support Paul Hamm as the winner of the gold medal in the Men's All-Around. The FIG will not reconsider the results in this case, and have closed the matter with the decision that Paul Hamm won the gold medal. The Koreans cannot appeal this decision.

3) The Koreans can appeal Paul Hamm's win of the gold medal to the Sports Court of Arbitration, which has the power to review the case and award the medals differently. However, the Court has already indicated the appeal would not be appropriate, and that there was very little chance they would even hear the case, let alone rule in favor of Yang in the matter. According to statements made by spokesmen for the Court up to this point, their initial review of the case suggests that all the rules were followed, and that Paul Hamm's medal was legitimately won and certified, leaving no real case to arbitrate. Therefore, while the Koreans may still appeal to the Sports Court for Arbitration, there is very little chance for them to successfully plead their case.

In all three instances, this suggests that the "what next" is that Paul Hamm retains his title as the winner of the gold medal in the Men's All-Around and Yang retains his title as the winner of the bronze medal in the Men's All-Around.

The "controversy" concerning Paul Hamm's medal has largely died down in the media, and is virtually non-existant in any of the ruling bodies of the Olympics Gymnastic Competition. The remaining controversy is almost entirely being argued out among the fans of the sport, who are naturally more likely to continue to discuss the situation long after an official decision has been made (which it pretty much has been at this point), because the fans may argue through their passion where the ruling bodies governing the contest must make their decisions with a dispassionate mind.

Let me be clear about one more thing. I consider Yang an Olympic Champion just as much as I consider Paul Hamm one. It is an amazing feat to even secure the chance to compete in the Olympics, let alone win a medal during the competition, and Yang was able to do both. I think he has every right to be proud of his accomplishments, and I think he should be regarded as the Olympic Champion he is.

I just don't think he should be regarded as the Olympic Champion Paul Hamm turned out to be.

I dont think paul hamm shoud give up his gold mediedl he just did what he was needed to do

I dont think paul hamm shoud give up his gold mediedl he just did what he was needed to do

I dont think paul hamm shoud give up his gold mediedl he just did what he was needed to do

I dont think paul hamm shoud give up his gold mediedl he just did what he was needed to do

I dont think paul hamm shoud give up his gold mediedl he just did what he was needed to do

u guys are scaring me

you may be carrying obsession a bit too far

You bleeding heart liberals only see America that way because that's how you want to see it. Any negative attitude that other nations have about this country comes from them listening to people like you come up with crap like that.

And by the way, Dubya and Paul do have one thing in common, they will both be defending their titles one day, and BOTH will win. America isn't quite ready to relinquish its values to crooked Olympic committees or crazy "let's flush all our morals down the Johns" left wingers such as yourself.

I think Paul shouldn`t give up his medal.He worked hard and earned it and if they give it to the Korean other countries will start to protest.I`m sure im not the only one on Paul`s Side.~~~P.S.~~~I ♥ Paul Hamm so much♥♥♥♥♥♥

I totally •◘○♦♣♠☺☻♥Ñäñ-Ñ◄►Ñlove paul

My goodness, Go Paul is very angry about something (or at someone). Deep breaths, Paul... deep breaths.

PAUL HAMM WON THE GOLD.HE DONE HIS JOB HE DONE NOTHING WRONG.HE SHOULD NOT GIVE IT BACK WHEN THE KOREAN IS THE WHO HELD ONE TO MANY HOLDS,WICH WOULD HAVE PUT HIM FOURTH PLACE NOT FIRST!PAUL HAMM DESERVES THE GOLD,HE SHOULD NOT GIVE IT BACK TO THE KOREAN WHEN HE DESERVED FOURTH PLACE!HE IS DOING THE RIGHT THING.AND I DON'T AGREE WITH AWARDING A SECOND GOLD MEDAL WHEN THE GUY DIDN'T EVEN DESERVE THIRD PLACE..

Actually, I think Yang Tae-Young should be happy with a bronze. If the routine had been judged correctly, including the extra hold as well as the correct start value, Yang Tae-Young would be looking at a score that was .10 less than the one he received. That doesn't seem like much, but in this competition, that would send him to 13th place. He should just be happy the judges made the mistake because it put him into a medal-winning position instead of a slightly depressing 13th.

I still don't think Paul should give up his medal. He is an athlete that played by the rules and came out on top because he didn't cheat.
PS I really hope Paul doesn't read this article by J Smooth. If I were him I would be emotionally hurt for a very long time that my own countrymen don't back me up on my decision.

I still don't think Paul should give up his medal. He is an athlete that played by the rules and came out on top because he didn't cheat.
PS I really hope Paul doesn't read this article by J Smooth. If I were him I would be emotionally hurt for a very long time that my own countrymen don't back me up on my decision.

I find myself wondering where everyone is getting that Yang should end up fourth, fifth, or even thirteenth place if you adjust his score. If you subtracted .10 points off his score, he'd still be the bronze medal winner because he was .126 points ahead of the fourth place finisher as the results were scored, meaning he'd still be ahead of the fourth place finisher by .026 points once the subtraction was made. His standings in the competition wouldn't change.

If you would like more information about how gymnastics events are scored, and about the mistakes in scoring during the Olympics, this article is informative http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/olympics/2004/writers/08/23/swift.gym/
Paul Hamm played by the rules of the game, and by those rules he won. The South Korean coaches missed by not protesting the start value at the proper time. Those are the rules.
Jane

I do not know if any of you mentioned this but Paul did end up feeling like the whole world was against him. To be put into a position that makes you feel that way at such a young age is one of the worst things you could do, first of all Paul did deserve that medal and I believe if/when this goes to court he will keep it. Another thing, after this whole controversy you may remember in the high bar finals how Paul had to overcome yet another stand off and still went on to get silver. It is not fair to put a competitor in the position where they have to explain a thing they won fairly. Being a competitor in high school right now I know what that feels like and trust me it is not fair. As for comparing an athlete to a president who has basically ruined our country and its environment is totally sick and wrong.

paul hamm did absolutly nothing wrong why should he give up his gold? u tell me that? he deserves it 110% u don't work for something ur entire life and give it all up to be a so called "hero"! do u have no understanding of sprots whatsoever?

Paul hamm has little, if not nothing to do with this whole stupid ordeal. It was not HIS fault that the judges added up the start value wrong, or that the koreans protested to late, or that the judges didn't take off points for the extra hold.
all paul do was perform his best. None of the scores should be changed because a, the koreans protested too late b, if they gave the korean his one tenth of a point they should also deduct for the extract hold, c, if they do deduct for the extrahold this implies us of replay, which shouldn't be used in judgeing because then everyone's routines would also have to go thru replay, and that will just make a huge mess.

paul has refused to give up or share his gold medal, and the argument on wether he should have or shouldn't have has been exhausted more than enough. it is a thing of the past, so stop arguing.

another good question to contemplate is if paul hamm had given up his medal, or offered to share it, what would the media and the people around the world thought of him? ashamed that he gave it up? or proud that he shared it? has not sharing the medal given him the reputation as selfish?

I think this thing should be put to an end. In the sports of gymnastics and almost every other sport, what the judges says goes, end of story. so why is this any different?

Whether Paul Hamm should give his medal back or not is really irrelevant now. It is in the past, and apparently is going to stay the way it is.

Paul Hamm really in a sense whether he wants to or not has given his medal back already. There will always be a tarnished image of his gold medal title. Compare his return to the US versus Carly Patterson. She is in the spotlight - lots of postive, Hamm is in a lesser spotlight with a lot more negative!

He went out and did his job. After a fall like he took a lot of gymnasts would have given up, but not him. That is the sign of a true champion- whether he had the highest score or not.

As far a the start values, there were several other gymnasts that were given lower start values than in previous competitions. If we started picking these scores apart, the outcome of the whole games could of changed. Two americans would have had higher start values in the team competition. If we went back and changed those, would USA won the gold? Morgan Hamm received a lower start value on the high bar final. If he would have been given the correct start value, he would have won the bronze.

In a sport that is judged by human eyes, not the time clock. There are going to be errors. In my opinion if you keep saying what if, these competitions would go on forever. Lets leave well enough alone- Paul Hamm is the winner and rightfully so!

Paul hamm Rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SO does morgan,his twin.paul did an awesome job!He earned the gold.He should keep it!Jesus Loves You.

Jesus loves you,he died for you and washed away your sins,and rose again.Ask him into your life. He loves u very much.He will forgive u if u ask him.Turn from evil ways.Live for Jesus.He loves u and made u!!!God bless you!!!!

P.S. Paul Hamm ROCKS!!!!!

i think this is a VERY loaded subject. One that will be discussed for quite a long time... My opinion is he should have kept the medal, and i am glad he did. like quite a few people have said, if they go back and review the scores, they would have to go back and review them for every party involved, and that still wouldn't change the outcome. Tae-Young made mistakes as well, and his greed and envy isn't being judged here, just that of the one who will not give up his gold???? that is ludicrous!! Oh, and i loath your thoughts in taking this as an opportunity to degrade the president, how in the world does he have anything to do with this? Im sure he didnt call mr hamm and tell him "Paul, you need to keep the medal, i am trying to build a greedier america and this will personify what i have worked hard to do" NO!! Mr Bush is a christian man with exceptional morals, more than i can say for you!! Good job paul... Proud to be from the USA!!!!!

Paul deserves to keep his gold medal he earned it. As to whether Paul voluntarily gives his medal up or not is a moot point. The International Olympic Committee has awarded the medals and has no intention of changing who is listed as the gold medal winner in their books. All that would happen is that Yang-Tae Young would have a meaningless piece of gold-plated jewelry around his neck because the official Olympic record books would still have Paul Hamm’s name listed as the gold medal winner. The only way he could have that changed is to say that he cheated to win it, which he did not do. He played by the rules, and he won by the rules. As for sharing the gold, I believe he was willing to share it until the FIG wrote that letter asking him to fix their mistake so they could get out of the Olympic sized frying pan they were in.

About his "attitude" problem? Let's see what contributed to it:

1. He played by the rules, won by the rules and was awarded the gold medal by the rules.
2. The error was not his and was correctable by the S. Koreans during the event. You don't make it to this level of competition without knowing the rules. This is not the first time S. Korea has competed in gymnastics in the Olympics.
3. He was asked to fix a mistake that someone else made so that the FIG can look good.
4. He has been crucified in the papers and has had a microphone shoved under his nose every 5 minutes by reporters who keep hounding him about the controversy and what is he, Paul Hamm, going to do about it?

He never really had time to enjoy the thrill of victory. The media, in their frenzy to exploit a controversial story, have taken what should have been the greatest moment of his life and turned it into the agony of defeat. I don't know about anyone else out there but I think I would be more than a little upset and angry about having to constantly defend myself for a mistake I did not make. He has agreed to abide by an official decision made by the people in charge of awarding the medals (he is not one of those people and should never have been forced into the position of being one).

If we allow instant replay and after the game complaints to decide this matter then we need to go back through every Olympics and review them for mistakes as well. Reveiw every sporting event ever recorded on film to make sure that all the calls were correct. We'd be exchanging medals and trophies from now until sometime in the middle of the next millenium at which time the people and teams that lost them will file their claim to review that review in light of newer evidence. At some point you have to say enough is enough and let it go. Every nation at some point has felt that they lost a medal (or trophy) due to some controversial incident or poor judging. We could go on second guessing sporting events until the end of time to try and save peoples feelings but it still won't make the world a better place to live in because people will always find something new to bitch about.

Great posting Sheila.. I agree with you 100%...

HEY THERE PAUL HAMM AND MORGAN ROCK......PAUL SHOULD KEEP THE GOLD HE EARNED IT FAIR AND SQUARE....DONT GIVE UP THE GOLD.....WE ALL ARE PROUD OF YOU.....YOU ALL MADE AMERICA PROUD AND WE ARE LUCKY TO HAVE ALL OF YOU ON OUR SIDE!!

Paul played by the rules and won the gold medal. He came out on top and didn't break a single rule in the process. He should be proud of his achievements and every American should be proud that he represented our country. I know I am.

As for the Korean gymnast, Young, and the Korean gymnastics committee. They should be happy that judging errors happen. Had his parallel bar routine been judged correctly, yes he would have gotten a .1 increase in his start value. However, there also would have been a .2 deduction for too many holds. Video review is not allowed in gymnastics in the first place, so if you are going to go back and look at Young's perfomance, it should be looked at in a positive as well as a negative way.

Paul earned the gold medal, fair and square. He shouldn't give it up for any reason what-so-ever. I have so much respect for him. He has put up with a lot of people criticizing him and giving him shit for his good decision. And he has put up with this with a smile on his face. If I were him, I would have exploded by now.

Paul should never have been put in the position to decide whether or not he should give up his medal. That decision should have stayed with the FIG. The Korean gymnastics committee should live with the decision made by the FIG and should be happy with the bronze medal. Winning bronze is still one hell of an achievement.

I think that Paul has already suffered enough punishment for a mistake that he didn't make. His gold medal doesn't have the shine that Carly Patterson's does because of all of this. What should have been one of the greatest moments of his life has turned into possibly one of the worst. It is sad to see his fellow Americans against him.

Paul, if you happen to read this, DON'T GIVE BACK THE GOLD. It is rightfully yours. I'm proud of the way you have handled this situation and of your achievements. Congrats on a gold medal that is without a doubt YOUR gold medal.

Ok, I think this is so stupid. Ya'll are sayin that he should have gave his gold back that he did the wrong thing and well, I dont think he did. If that would have been you who won the Gold meadal you probly would'nt have given it to somebody who you think didnt do as well as you. I know I wouldnt.

Its Paul's. And if they give they other guy a gold also, that just kind of makes gettin the gold not so special, for both gymnasts.

Oh Yeah and they wathced the video of the other guys performance and they found a mistake they didnt even take off for.

Some of you guys may not agree, but It's Paul's.

CONGRATS TO PAUL!:D

Paul Hamm was correctly awarded the gold medal. For several reasons, one being the two-tenth deduction that was NOT taken on the Koreans parallel bar routine for four hold parts. However, the real reason I am upset is that in the sport of gymnastics, you have until the end of the rotation to put in a challenge on a score you don't like. The Koreans failed to do so because they didn't know that they would lose by such a small margin. However, the rules are the RULES, and by the rules, Paul Hamm won, fair and square. He should NOT give up his medal, because his comeback was one for the ages and he deserved to be in the position he was in--the best gymnast at the Olympics.

And folks, I have twenty years experience competing in the sport, fourteen years judging, and ten coaching......... just so you understand where I am coming from.

One more thing, for the record....As a judge, I am appalled at the errors made by the judges in the Olympics. I am equally appalled at how the crowd and officials reacted after Nemov's high bar routine. Both were classless....You don't change the score due to "peer pressure"....THAT'S unfair!

I am also appalled at FIG. To even ASK Paul Hamm to give his gold medal to the Korean, after the competition was over, is completely against THEIR OWN rules. The start values of the routines are flashed to the competitor and coach after the routine -- that is standard in international competition to avoid such mistakes on the start value. If the Koreans wanted to protest then, I would understand. However, they did not, and the FIG is being run by a bunch of idiots if they think that they can pawn off the responsibility on the Olympic champion.

But the really big issue to me? I worked my ass off in this sport for 90% of my life, and I take great pride in the fact that the U.S. finally has a MEN'S Olympic All-Around champion...only to be cheapened by the throngs of second-guessing journalists with absolutely no knowledge of how the sport is judged. Unless you have been in the shoes of the judge, back off your comments or you will be made to look like the dumb asses you are.

If you really want to get down to "fair play", let's talk about the Roy Jones fiasco in the Seoul Olympics......Think he should be awarded a gold medal too? He was much more deserving than the Korean gymnast........

I think everyone is reading into this controversy way to much. Paul Hamm got the gold, deserves the gold, and should keep the gold. End of story. It really surprises me how some of you can be so appearently angry at our athlete Paul Hamm. Are you Americans or what? We should all be backing this kid up 100% instead you bunch of jackasses have to write a lot of shit about how Paul should give his medal back to show the world that we're not bullies.
Also the fact that you liberals are bringing politics into this is just sickening. Saying you hate G dub-ya because he makes America seem arrogant. I say if arrogance is attacking terrorists then we should be as arrogant as we can be.
So in finishing I'm just going to say that we should all keep our eyes on the fact that Paul got that medal because he deserved it, and none of you sisses can say he didn't.
I love ya Paul, keep up the awesome work!!! :)

I totally agree that Paul should keep his medal. He rocks!!!!! I do feel bad for him. He is the best in the world! He was before he won the all-around too. Paul I don't know if you read this or not but I hope you do because alot of people have written great things about you. *Some people wrote some not so good things but they don't know what they are talking about*. You are such a great gymnast. Anyways, I have a point to make. Four years ago That tall Russian girl *I don't know how to spell her name*...the one who wanted the all-around gold because this was her last Olympics. Anyway, she fell on vault because it was to low but then she fell off of the bars because she was still mad at herself for falling on the vault, so it just goes to show you that when Paul fell on vault he showed everyone how great of a gymnast he really is by sticking his last two routines and doing the best that he could do and he got the gold. I am Paul Hamm's number one fan!!! P.S. Paul if you read this I want you to know that I have a 'Paul Hamm Wall' in my room. I'm praying for you and I hope you keep the gold because you 100% earned it! How did you get that scare on your right arm by your shoulder? Take care and God Bless!
-Melita Jo Veatch

really, yang tae young held on to the bar longer then he should? so, this justifies everything? well then, how about paul falling on his ass and crashing into the judges table? according to the world gymnastics federation his deductions should of been at least 1 point...w/that said...stop your ignorance.

It is wrong to try to put the whole pressure on Paul Hamm.

And then some people here saying that his actions (which were right by the way) will increase the hostility between the U.S. and Korea. Wow that is over exaggeration if I ever read it. This is a 21 year old guy who is a college student and a Gymnast in no way does his actions about deciding to keep the God medal (which he rightfully won) affect our over seas conflicts with Korea. (He is a 21 year old kid).

Our oversea conflicts have more to do with the two countries having different types of governments that don’t agree with the other and the production of nuclear weapons, not on if a gymnast really deserved the Gold all around title. (Which he did)

Some one made a commit about comparing the way Paul won his gold medal to the way Bush won the presidency in 2000. I would have to agree with this because they both won BY THE RULES. (Four More Years!)

For all you bringing politics into this I would much rather have Paul compared to Bush because if he were like Kerry he would have decided to return the medal than changed his mind saying he wants it back, then change his mind again and saying he should give it away, then change his mind again. (Flip- flopper)

George W. Bush 2004

Someone made a comment about how the “psychology of the athletes” would have changed. Well I don’t think that would have changed much because those other athletes proved that when they were on top close to the Gold they faltered and were not able to make comebacks from that. Paul had a bad vault and was able to put it out of his mind and pull of two outstanding routines. He had high scores on all of his events except vault and that let him climb to the top. While the other athletes that faltered did not. Paul’s psyche would have stayed the same because he was not aware of the chance to get the Gold medal. He was trying to just medal. Which he did.

I will not make arguments about How Paul deserved the medal because I think there have already been some great and supportive statements made here that sum it up.

(Oh and Paul was by far the best Gymnast at the Olympics)

Amen to Sheila's and Jeff's insightful posts of a few days ago. You both hit the nail on the head.

Paul Hamm knows, just as we all do, that he played and won by the rules - which makes him the rightful champion. A true athlete lives by and respects the rules of their sport. At this point giving his medal to Yang would be a disservice to athletes everywhere because, in effect, he'd be saying "Screw you and your rules!" to the Olympic games and all the athletes who competed, not to mention to the sport of gymnastics, and the IOC and USOC.

Now I've said my peace here and in a previous post, so I'll leave it at that. I think many-a-person on this message board has illustrated quite well how Paul Hamm is the rightful gold medalist. But I will add that I'm glad he is sticking to his convictions through all of this and not giving in to any outside pressures. Paul Hamm did this country proud in the Olympics, and I, for one, will be rooting for him to do the same four years from now in Beijing.

Well i think that paul rocks... i mean he got 22nd in vault and turns around to get to 1st or otherwise perfect performances- were you watching those events could of scored a perfect 9.9 in my opinion. that 1 vault was his only big mistake but other gymnast helped him get that gold. even if that other guy did deserve a higher point value he should of got deducted- i think it was just a big misunderstanding... really though lay off which one of you guys gold fall almost into the judges and turn around and win a gold and become my hero. on a final note PAUL HAMM IS IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM LIKE HOW CORRUPTED ASS BUSH GOT ELECTED PRESIDENT A& IM PROUD THAT HE WON

I think Paul Hamm is sooooooooo cute. He should not give back his gold medal. He went out and did what he had to do, it was the judges falt, not his. But I personally like Bush, I don't care what anyone thinks, Kerry is the lier here. I have Paul's pictures from the newspaper and computer all around my room and I deeply appreciate that HE is the 'one'. But don't say anything about Bush, 'cause that got me pissed, he did nothing wrong.
I LOVE YOU PAUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First of all, for all you out there who think that Paul would have gone down in history for giving up a medal, drown yourselves in a large bowl of Campells soup, really, send me your adress so I can come and hold the bowl because you probably are not competent enough to do so.

Second of all, for all those who think that Yang Tae Young would have won and did win, taking in acount his +.1 point which he indeed deserved, you failed to truely read the facts. As stated in the rules for an Olympic high bar routine, a gymnast can only have three(3) grabs in his routine, and after reviewing the video, Yang had 4 holds. The deduction for violating that rule: two tenths of a point. So there you have it, Paul Hamm is an amazing athlete, character, and deserves his gold medal.

I am at Jknott04@hotmail.com if your bowl keeps falling off the table.

i'm sorry, but that post was a bunch of crap. don't compare paul hamm to president bush, because bush is an asshole. paul is only 21. he won the gold medal and should be allowed to celebrate that without all this crap that comes along from bad judging. it's not his fault the judges screwed up. and incase you haven't been updated, if the judging was done correctly yang wouldn't have won anyway, because of his extra hold. so stop bitching about hamm. i think he's handling the situation well. if anyone is to be looked down upon it's the people who asked him to give his gold medal back.... and er, kathleen... i like paul too, but that's kinda stalkerish.

There are three real issues here.

Paul Hamm won the goal medal and he is the best gymnast during 2004 Olympic. It is a final decision and no discussion is needed.

President Bush is doing a fine job as our president during the last 3+ years and will be our president for the next 4 years. Also no discussion needed just cast your
vote on November.

Why are we attacking our selves during this difficult time when we need to united and fight our enemies – Isamic Terrorists. 19 people killed themselves plus 3000+ American citizens in our own land and we blaim our president
For that incident not the 19 crazy individuals. Paul Hamm won the Gold and did not cheat or alter the score and it was unsportmanship of him to not giving his gold medal to his losing competitor who never beat him in any international
competition. And the action of SK, Yang Tae-young and IGF were so nobel. Americans, stop blaiming ourselves for everything.
We are who we are. In my opinion, this is the best countries in the whole world and if you can find a better place please move there and leave us alone.

40 years ago a famous young man said, “And so, my fellow Americans... ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”

How many of you remember the name of that famous
Young man. And what have we learn from that famous quote.

You guys are all stupid, President Bush is not a bad president at all and paul hamm is not being selfish you guys dont even know what's going through his or mind or what he's feeling at all.

Anyone know how I can contact the author of this article (jsmooth995)? Please send me his name and address to Tpb@aol.com

T

Dear heatherjones16-
I think the person who is ignorant here is clearly you. No matter what mistake Paul made on the vault he did plenty and then some to make up for it. And you tell me, have you made a mistake before? Well you'd be lying if you said no because everyone messes up. Paul was the best gymnast at these games and he proved it by being brave enough and strong enough to win after that fall. So if you want to rant and rave about how he should give back his medal like all those other jackasses out there then go a head. I'll tell you one thing Paul is a lot better person then you, he hasn't attacked anyone for their critizim, no matter how bad it was. But you're attaking him because he made a mistake and then one of the best comebacks in gymnastics history? i mean come on that's mature.

I totally agree with you michelle.

And Kathleen, I think Paul's cute to, but don't hurt yourself.

i was wondering, does paul(hottie)hamm have a girlfriend? if he does i want to kill her.
paul is so hot i just want to kiss him.
u rock paul!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i am so in love with you!!!

Hi Hotchic

I believed as of May 2004 neither Paul nor Morgan has a girlfriend but we can check it out and ask Paul personally by your self. Here is the link to their official website:
www.hammtwins.com

And I cut/paste the following stat jus for our readers:

Hometown: Waukesha, WI
Residence: Waukesha, WI
Birth Date/Place: September 24, 1982 / Washburn, WI
Club: Ohio State University
Coaches: Miles Avery, Arnold Kventenadze & Doug Stibel
High School: Waukesha South
University: Ohio State University
Year in School: Sophomore
Favorite Event: All
Hobbies: Playing tennis
Began Gymnastics: 1989
Best Events: Pommel Horse
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 137 lbs
Years on Sr. National Team: 4
Years on Jr. National Team: 4

Best Finishes:
2nd Team at 2003 World Championships
1st All Around, Floor Exercise at 2003 World Championships
1st All Around at 2003 U.S. Gymnastics Championships
3rd Floor Exercise at 2002 World Championships
1st All Around, Pommels, and Vault at the 2002 US National Championships
7th All Around at the 2001 World Championships
2nd Team at the 2001 World Championships
14th All-Around at the 2000 Olympic Games
2nd in All-Around at 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials (114.125)
1st in Pommel Horse (9.850) at 2000 U.S. Olympic Trails
11th in All-Around at 1999 U.S. Gymnastics Championships
3rd in All-Around at 2000 U.S. Gymnastics Championships (112.925)

Fun Facts:
- Paul enjoys playing tennis, cards, chess, and a German game called Sheepshead.
- Paul was the first American Male to win a World Championship All Around Title

And Paul, congratulations for a job well done. We wish you the best and it would make my day if you send Yang Tae-young a letter to give him one last chance to compete with you on all 6 events to let him know he did not deserve any medal at all. decide once and for And I bet you no body is going to put money on his side.

Go Paul

Yes, Paul does have a girlfriend of five months or so. In fact, there's a photo of her somewhere online. I forget where it is. LOL, I'll even post the story here. She's a gymnast at Ohio State, where he trains, and they apparently met on the street. She recognized him and approached him. Then, I guess, they started dating.

Do NOT ask me how I know that. Ok, I read it online.

I have to agree with the vast majority here. Though I only watched the second half of his all-around competition (i.e. events 4-6), I've heard that his first three events were friggin awesome. I don't know which place he held before his awful fall into the judges' table, but I do know that it broke my heart to see his hope falter like that. I could tell that he thought he was done for. I also remember wanting to SCREAM when he kicked major butt in his last two events, propelling him from 12th to 4th and, lastly, to 1st place. My favorite image is still of his disbelief as his coach hugged him. There is no doubt in my mind that he deserves this medal, and, as far as I can tell, I am informed of all of the facts. Excuse me if I'm reiterating everything that has already been stated on this page, but Yang Tae-Young was given 0.10 MORE than he deserved. -0.10 + 0.20 = 0.10. EXTRA. Still with the bronze. Interesting. I also understand that it was illegal to view the tapes after the competition had ended, but try and understand it this way: My friend's parents were getting a divorce, and they were in court for quite a few weeks. Eventually, tapes were brought forward of phone conversations carried out between her parents. These informative tapes proved many points that awarded her mother custody. The taping of any conversation without consent is illegal in America, but it can also be used as valid, useful proof in a court of law. The illegal aspects of the tapes are overlooked under severe circumstances. (I know that a lot of you like to argue abo