Hamm doesn't want to give up his gold to FIG

[AgadorSparticus]

Hamm rebuffs FIG request
From staff reports
ATHENS — American gymnast Paul Hamm apparently has no intention of voluntarily giving up his Olympic gold medal in the men's all-around competition.

Responding to Friday's news that the International Gymnastics Federation had written him a letter asking him to voluntarily give up his medal to Korean gymnast Yang Tae Young in a show of sportsmanship, Hamm said in a televised interview with NBC's Bob Costas Friday night: "If the FIG determines, according to the rules, that I am not the winner, then I will give my medal back. I was never agreeing to give the medal back if they only asked me to."

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/athens/gymnastics/2004-08-28-hamm_x.htm?POE=SPOISVA

Didn't he say last week he would do whatever the FIG told him to do?? I think this guy is a disgrace. He could care less about anything but getting the hardware--even if he didn't earn it.

[GOPisEvil]

1. Why should he clean up FIG's mess?

They made the mistakes. They should fix it.

[Cheswick2.0]

2. Good for him

They are trying to make him responsible for their lousy judgement in reviewing that tape to begin with. Now that they have reviewed it they should be taking the Korean's Bronze away since he made an error for which he should have been docked 2/10ths of a point, thereby dropping him to fourth.

[childslibrarian]

3. It was not his fault that the judges did not count his competitors routine

at the mark it should have been. They also did not deduct for a hold in his routine. This is clearly the judges fault. Why are you blaming the athlete?
In the winter Olympics when the judges failed to properly mark the pairs competition, two gold medals were awarded. Why isn't that the case now?

[bigwillq]

6. I just said the same thing

You just beat me to the punch!

[AgadorSparticus]

10. In the Winter Olympics, it was a matter of scoring preferences.

This leaves much for leeway (sp?). But this is a clear case where it is bad math. There is no need to rewatch any performances. I recognize that judges will sometimes miss certain flaws, but again this is just basic math and competence. And no, it isn't Hamm's job to clean up their mess. But Hamm keeping or giving the medal is a not about cleaning up anyone elese's mess. It is about HIM acting with character and integrity. The medal doesn't mean shit if you didn't win it. It seems, we as a society, value the "win" or even the impression of a win more than the spirit of competition. And that is sad to me...

[bigwillq]

4. He has no reason to give up the gold

The judges made the mistake, not Hamm.

The only thing they really could do is let Hamm keep his gold and maybe give the second place finisher a gold as well like they did to those figure skaters a few years back.

[Placebo]

5. he should give the medal back

he didn't earn it

[ldf]

8. it WOULD show the true spirit of sportsmanship

it was not a problem of his making, but it would show he was a much bigger man than they are if he helped them out of the shithole they have dug themselves in.

i think his status would be hugely increased if he showed the fortitude to step up to the plate and solve their problems for them.

all in the true spirit of the olympics.

it should not affect his ability to get endorsements. the opportunities would probably increase.

edit to add:

if the FIG DOES finally get the nerve up and MAKE (ask) him give it back (he said he would if they asked) it would look like he was truly a sore loser.

[nyhuskyfan]

7. The FIG didn't tell him to do anything

The problem here is the FIG. They won't make a decision on any grounds, they just said, "Boy it would sure be nice if you'd just hand over the medal on your own, so we don't have to do anything difficult. Do you mind?"

It is NOT the onus of the athlete to hand back something. If the FIG said that they are going to step in and declare the Korean the winner, that's a different matter.

Protests in sports have to be filed immediately. If you want to go to the replay in football, you must do so before the next snap. If you want to appeal that a runner left early on a sacrifice fly, you must do so before the next pitch. If you want to protest the scoring in gymnastics, it must be taken care of right then and there. Why? Because you do not know what would have happened afterwards if the changes had been made. The Koreans only argument for a shared medal would be if it could be shown that they did protest on the spot and were told they had to protest after the match -- in which case the judge that told them that should be shamed out of ever judging again and the second gold medal should be given.

Hamm won the competition that day, based on the information everyone had. If you want to go to the replays and look for objective technicalities in the scoring, guess what? He still wins and the Korean finishes fourth for too many holds. And you've started to open a pandora's box that everything will be reviewed over and over again every time there's a close finish and they won't be able to hold the official medal ceremonies and play the anthem for the winner until the following Olympics four years later.

[childslibrarian]

9. well said

Thanks