http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...id=554&ncid=716

Ouch that must hurt for both guys. The american guy now knows he doesn't deserve it and the Korean guy doesn't have a change of getting the gold back. We all make mistakes but they are supposed to olympic judges

 

That's messed up.

 

Ouch.

 

Sucks to be Paul Hamm (well, not really, but just in this case )! His dream was to win a gold medal and now it's haunted by having a cloud over its head. But oh well, I wouldn't mind winning a gold in anything; maybe eating vomit.

 

I am surprised there is so little reaction to this thread on this forum. I am sure if the situation was reversed and an American was denied a gold medal due to a mistake, the out cry in this country would be a lot louder and there is more reaction.

I think the honorable thing for Paul Hamm to do is to swap medal with the Korean guy, since clearly the Korean athlete deserved the gold and Paul only earned a bronze. But even if he is not willing to give up his own gold medal, the least he can do is to speak up for sharing the gold medal with the Korean guy.

But, all I hear in the interviews with Paul and the American Gymnastic head guy is the attitude that "Paul got the gold and that is the end, it is not our problem". I think this is the kind of un-sportsman attitude that gives the Olympics (and Americans) a bad name.

 

ya, i saw that Mrs Hamm also sent a letter saying you he has it and he ain't giving it up!

Remember the old saying.....Possession is 9/10's baby!

 

According to the rules which the Koreans took an oath to obey, they should have protested the starting value before Yang started his parallel bar routine. Why they didn't protest in the time allowed is anybody's guess, but they shouldn't come back afterward and whine about it. That behavior is unsportsmanlike; Hamm's is not.

If you believe that the honorable thing for Paul Hamm to do is to accept the late protest (and give up the gold medal), then the honorable thing for Yang Tae-young to do is let Paul Hamm redo his vault and stick his landing. Both are the results of mistakes; why should one team have to accept theirs and the other be allowed to violate the rules and not accept theirs? It's a matter of responsibility, at the very least.

I, for one American, would have the same opinion if it were the US team who had made such a gaffe. When the contestants swear an oath to abide by the rules, then they should have the decency to do so, and to refrain from complaining when their own mistakes (e.g., failing to file a timely protest) cost them dearly.

 

If they did protest at the right time but were told by the judges to file a complaint later, then the judges made TWO mistakes.

I, for one, would think that they should BOTH be awarded gold ... that seems the fairest to me ....

 

but Hamm's reputation will go down the tubes in the international level if he doesn't give up the gold. he was booed at the horizontal bar event for 10 minutes straight.

but then all of this wasn't his fault.

 

Okay, I'm not reading all that, quite honestly i dont give a shit about the olympics but whats fair is fair, if he deserved the gold he should get the gold. Sure it sucks for the american but thats how it goes...