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It seems this Paul Hamm controversy is getting pretty big. For those who don't have any time to pay attention to anything but golf, I'll try to sum things up for you.

The bronze medal winner from South Korea got a "start value" of 9.9 for one of his events when it should have been 10.0. A start value, if I am correct, is the maximum score a gymnast can receive on a particular event and deductions are made from there. The South Korean gymnast ended up at 0.049 behind Hamm but if he received that extra tenth of a point, he would have been ahead of Hamm for the gold medal.

What do you all think about this? I really feel for Hamm that he's coming under so much fire for something that really isn't his fault. I do think the South Korean gymnast should be awarded a duplicate gold medal (kind of like in the 2002 Winter Olympics with figure skating). What are your opinions?

I just saw an interview with Hamm and he said he doesn't think Yang of South Korea should even be awarded a duplicate gold medal. It looks like Hamm "giving" the gold to Yang is entirely out of the question but I am surprised he would say that.

I saw something about this last night. One of the commentators pointed out that the Korean gymnast did 4 hold routines when you are only suppose to do 3. The extra hold should have had him deducted 2/10ths of a point. I have a feeling if this keeps up about the duplicate golds, this extra hold and points not taken off will come to the forefront.


I am happy that Hamm won, but his voice just creeps me out.

Duplicate Gold Medals are out of the question according to the IOC. An error was made that awarded the wrong athlete the gold medal, it happens. (USA vs Russia Basketball in the 70's comes to mind) It's Hamm's to keep but it's tainted and you won't see his picture on a Wheaties box any time soon.

did yall see what happened when the russian, nemov or somethign, did a FANTASTIC routine on the high bar, just a step on the landing, and the commentators were like...man, that was a routine for the ages..and he ended up with like a 9.6 or something.. paul hamm was on deck and had to wait out the 15 minutes for all the booing to subside and they rescored the russian and still gave him like a 9.725 (low for him)... then paul hamm goes out, does a noticably inferior routine, takes a (albiet small) hop on teh landing and gets like a 9.825 or something ridiculously high.. then some italian dude goes up and does a crazy routine, pure awesomeness, takes a small step on his landing and gets tied with hamm?!?!?!?

the judging is fixed i tell you, fixed... even the commentators (who all night were saying how paul hamm deserved this, deserved that, very pro america (prolly cuz there were american broadcasters, lol)) and they were like...man, i almost hope paul hamm gets beat so he doesnt have to explain himself again!

anyways, i think paul hamm is a load of crock..especially teh way he is handling the situation... talking about how his hard work paid off and he deserved everything he got (including the silver medal in teh high bar, which EVERYONE knows should be Nemovs)... sure the south korean olympic committee messed up by filing the petition late, and its not gonna get changed, nor should it, but he'll have to live with always knowing he was the "second best" gymnast at the 2004 games... anyone who falls on his *** while doing any routine should NOT get the gold, unless the ENTIRE field does the same..

I don't see how he is second best...He won the medal. There is more to this than is coming out. I thought it was busch league when the Russian got **** on his routine then the head coming out and changing the score.

Didn't Nemov come in fourth? The cat who won was dead on, Nevmov had a cool routine but apparently there was some stuff missing. Nevmov should have also stood up and quieted down the crowd earlier than he did, Hamm had it tough with what was going on and then stuck his routine. A crock huh. Nice.

Two words golfer8...Spell check...

Well, looks like there's more controversy. The president of the International Gymanstics Federation didn't order Hamm to hand over the gold medal but suggested he should. In the letter sent to the United States Olympic Committee intended for Hamm, the FIG president actually wrote, "The true winner of the all-around competition is Yang Tae-young." Meanwhile, the USOC seems to have put its full support behind Hamm after being a little wishy washy initially.

As for duplicate gold medals, it's not going to happen as leaguegolf stated earlier.

What power does the president of the International Gymnastics Federation have over the International Olympic Committee? This is an Olympic matter. What business does the International Gymnastics Federation have making suggestions to Olympic athletes?

Any competition that involves "judging" is going to be subjective. The athletes know that going in, and compete accordingly. Judges, like officials and referees in other sports, make mistakes. Sometimes those "mistakes" go against you and sometimes they go in your favor. Competitive athletes know this and the best ones accept the outcome. There was no conspiracy, like what occurred in figure skating at Salt Lake City, so the principals involved need to accept the results and move on. If there is a flaw in the way the formulas are used to judge gymnastic events then they should direct their energy into fixing the system.....not whining about the outcome.

I agree that any sport that involved judging is going to be subjective. Thus, the varience of scores from one event or performer to the next. That is always going to the case (judges judge on how well THEY think the performance was).

BUT, Yang's score error was NOT subjective. His end score was (the penalties the judges assessed) but the starting point is one thing that has little to do with subjectivity (although there is a bit of subjectivity there, the Committee wouldn't have come out and said they * up if it were completely subjective, like the scoring system)

Yang did do 4 holds as opposed to three which should have been docked (but wasnt), but this is what I think LeagueGolf and others were referring to when talking about subjectivity in the judging. Of course, that will always be the case. However, when the starting point is wrong, its not a subjective error, its just a human error that cost him the gold. If I were put in the same situation, I know I would think I deserved the gold (as I assume many of you would). Kind of like giving the Soviets three times to score a basket in the final second, wouldnt you say?

I agree, there was no conspiracy, but at least through this olympics the International Gymanstics Federation knows what kind of problem there is in scoring (especially the men's high bar routines on the last day) and can hopefully fix it before Beijing.

The sad part is the people laying this at Hamm's feet. This is not his fault. He simply performed that night. He was awarded the gold. He did nothing wrong. Asking him to relinquish his Gold is their way of putting this at his feet instead of their own. To me the only fair thing to do is to issue the additional gold.

"This isn't 4th grade. Everybody doesn't get a trophy!" I heard that quote on TV today and it made me chuckle.

Even though I feel like Paul Hamm does not deserve the gold for the above stated reasons, I kind of feel sorry for the guy. His crowning achievement of his life turns controversial, and a rightful wheaties box instead will go to Carly Patterson and Michael Phelps (not like they wouldnt have gotten it anyways).

I honestly dont know what would be fair. But the scoring and judging at this years gymnastics final was horrible.

Under Rule 1-4 covering Equity, I feel Paul Hamm deserves the gold medal. The S. Koreans are moaning about his start value which was low by .10 but his errors that were missed during the routine are worth -.20 which in my book puts him -.10 further behind than he actually finished. If you are going to break the rules and use the instant replay to check up on the judging, then you MUST take into account the ENTIRE routine including all errors. It is a shame that Hamm is going to go down in history as the "ugly American" with no sportsmanship but it is NOT his fault that the judging was substandard.

Paul Hamm deserved the gold? I think when you fall on your backside on the vault, you give up your chances for the all-around. Unfortunately FIG goofed and looked for the kid to rectify the situation by asking him to give up his medal. They brought it out in the open, and Hamm is now looking like an "ugly American." It is not his fault.

Did the South Korean gymnast deserve gold? Maybe, but the replay shows he should have been deducted two tenths of a point for an extra strength move. Too much is being made of the whole darn thing. Its gymnastics.

Give them both a gold medal. Whats the big deal? Just my opinion.

I agree that a fall MIGHT knock one out of competition but by other people making critical mistakes in various events, it allows one back in. Paul Hamm deserves the gold because as flawed as the scoring system is with human error, ALL of the competitors were subjected to the same flaws. Just like the World Golf Rankings...not perfect but that is what we have.