PaulHamm and his Gold medal

[k1xv]

If you were the recipient of an Olympic Gold medal under the disputed circumstances by which Paul Hamm received his, what would you do?

I would offer to have the event re-scored. His Gold medal is now so tarnished that it is about the same in value as OJ Simpson's not guilty verdict.

He is a fine athlete, but the public really admires fine athletes who are also great sportsmen. I do not think he will be able to cash in on post Olympic commercial endorsements, as he will always be viewed as the guy who won his medal on a technicality, and did not offer to make things right.

And I do not think that the other issues raised about the Korean's allegedly mis-scored routine are particularly relevant. There is a difference between disputing balls and strikes, vs. a batter walking up to the plate with one strike against him already.

I hope this is not considered to be religion, sex or politics, but it is ethics.

 

[keith]

The disputed scoring did not happen in the last event of the overall competition. Who is to say Hamm wouldn't have pulled out a little more and won anyway if he knew he needed to, or the other guy may have choked if he was leading. The judges made a mistake, not the competitor. It's not like the 25th place finisher was accidentally moved up to 1st, which would be harder to reconcile.

The mistake happened, the guy stood on the top rung and put a gold medal around his neck. Correcting the scoring and issuing two golds is the right thing.

 

[carrera79]

I agree with you, but it is such a difficult matter. As somone suggested in an article, Paul should have given the medal to the Korean. I didn't like the article, or the author's reasoning behind this action, but I do think it would have been an unbelieveable moment.

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And I do not think that the other issues raised about the Korean's allegedly mis-scored routine are particularly relevant. There is a difference between disputing balls and strikes, vs. a batter walking up to the plate with one strike against him already.

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This is very true. It wasn't an issue of subjective judging; it was an issue of a stupid mistake that can be very objectively judged.

 

[Ugly3]

This is a sad and ugly mess. Here are the key factors in my judgment.

1) The Korean team had the opportunity to protest the scoring "at the appropriate time" but did not choose to do that.

2) One of the commentators pointed out that the Korean athlete performed 5 "holds" in his routine while only 4 "holds" are allowed by rule. This is an automatic .2 point deduction so the Korean athlete should not have even been in medal contention at all.

3) Anytime a "winner" is determined by subjective scoring methods there is bound to be what seen to be unfair results. All the competitors know that and all the fans do to. It is all part of the "game".

An old baseball umpire once said something like this. When ball is hit near the foul line it ain't fair of foul untill I "call it", then that's what it is.

The result is the result, just live with it and go on.

 

[crashz]

Thanks for the infor Ugly3. The facts you stated in #1 and #3 I have heard reported before, but not #2. If this is really true, then Paul Hamm deserves the gold and he has grounds to stand on in this case. As you say, subjective scoring will always have problems.

 

[Pablo]

Paul Hamm 100% deserves the GOLD.

Ugly 3 nailed it.

I too saw this:

quote:

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2) One of the commentators pointed out that the Korean athlete performed 5 "holds" in his routine while only 4 "holds" are allowed by rule. This is an automatic .2 point deduction so the Korean athlete should not have even been in medal contention at all.

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The judges didn't deduct the .2, so....

Well basically the judges suck and any "sport" that is pretty much all subjective, sucks IMHO.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

I've always said, if you can't measure it with a tape or a watch then it doesn't belong in the olympics.

JMO

 

[Pablo]

GM wrote:

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I've always said, if you can't measure it with a tape or a watch then it doesn't belong in the olympics.

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So, you mean, sand volleyball cheerleaders are out?? Darn..........

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

Yes Pablo, unless they're naked!

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by Pablo:


Well basically the judges suck and any "sport" that is pretty much all subjective, sucks IMHO.

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If it doesn't use an engine, it's just a game, not a sport.

 

[Al]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ugly3:
An old baseball umpire once said something like this. When ball is hit near the foul line it ain't fair of foul untill I "call it", then that's what it is.

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Hahahahaha..Good one Ugly3

 

[Intelman34]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ugly3:
2) One of the commentators pointed out that the Korean athlete performed 5 "holds" in his routine while only 4 "holds" are allowed by rule. This is an automatic .2 point deduction so the Korean athlete should not have even been in medal contention at all.

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Exactly.

If I was the Korean, I would be happy I didn't get a deduction and still ended up with a medal.

 

[GSV]

I should preface my remarks by saying I haven't watched 1 second of these HOlympics.

Koreans whining about scoring? Ask Roy Jones jr. and Ike Quartey if they have any sympathy for them.

(hint)2 boxers absolutely robbed in Seoul games.

 

[Pablo]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...8/27/bc.oly.taintedgold.ap/index.html?cnn=yes

 

[keith]

In a related story, the ATP have corrected a bad line call in the 1980 Wimbledon Mens Singles Final and awarded 1st place to John McEnroe, with Bjorn Borg demoted to runner up.

 

[motorguy222]

I too saw the story about the Korean gymnast having more holds than allowed.He should have been deducted .2 of a point for doing so,he wasn't.I dont hear the Koreans complaining about this.
Hamm should KEEP his GOLD medal.He did win it fair and square,the tapes of the event proves this.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

If Hamm had a good P.R. guy, he would have given up the medal. He would become one of the most remembered athletes in Olympic history.

Too bad he has principles, he will have a more difficult time cashing in on this.

 

[poison]

My take:

Judges called the score, with Hamm winning; then the mistake is called. After the fact, the Koreans saw the slo-mo tape and saw that their guy had 5 holds instead of 4, and that regardless of the judging mistake, Hamm still won. But the judges are saying that Korea won, still not accounting for the Koreans mistake.

The Koreans were afraid to dispute the judging error legally because the judges might account for their other error, that of the Korean. So they wait until after the legal time in the hope that they and the press can shame Hamm into voluntarily giving up the medal.

Bastards!

 

[Al]

quote:

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Originally posted by GROUCHO MARX:
If Hamm had a good P.R. guy, he would have given up the medal. He would become one of the most remembered athletes in Olympic history.

Too bad he has principles, he will have a more difficult time cashing in on this.

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Well-I'm not sure he can give up the gold medal-except physically. It would still be his gold medal. I know what you are saying though.

 

[ediamiam]

If the Koreans want the correction to the starting difficulty and have the .1 added back in, they should also be willing to take .2 deduction for the hold. I believe this would knock their contestant off the bronze medal, and he should do the honorable thing by relinquishing the bronze to the 4th place finisher.