Athletes - Paul Hamm

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	Athletes - Paul Hamm

Paul Elbert Hamm (born September 24, 1982 in Waukesha, Wisconsin) is a US gymnast and Olympic medalist.

In 2003, he became the first American man to win the all-round title at the world championships. He competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, alongside his twin brother Morgan. He won the silver medal in the team event and the high bar, and was awarded gold in the individual all-around competition, becoming the only American man in Olympic history to win the gold medal in that event.

Hamm held a good position after three rounds, but a disastrous fall on the vault, in which he nearly fell into the judges' bench, dropped him to 12th place and he looked to be completely out of the running for a medal of any sort. Indeed, had a judge and the bench not been able to break Hamm's fall, he might have fallen from the podium and sustained injury. However, numerous faults by the other gymnasts, combined with Hamm's performance on the parallel bars, returned him to fourth place after the fifth rotation. His high bar routine gained him a score of 9.837, winning him the gold medal by a margin of .012, the closest in Olympic Gymnastics history. His scores on the six disciplines were:

Floor: 9.725 (1st)
Pommel horse: 9.700 (4th)
Rings: 9.587 (8th)
Vault: 9.137 (22nd)
Parallel bars: 9.837 (1st)
Horizontal bar: 9.837 (1st)
Overall: 57.823 (1st)

Gold medal controversy

Almost immediately after the competition, Hamm's gold in the Men's all-around event was called into doubt due to a scoring issue.

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) ruled that South Korean bronze medalist Yang Tae-young was unfairly docked a tenth of a point in the all-around final. The 0.100 point deducted from Yang's start value in parallel bars, determined by the difficulty of the routine, was the difference between third and first, and, therefore, between the bronze medal and the gold medal. The FIG suspended three judges but said the results would not be changed. The USOC argued that changing scores after the fact was a violation of Olympic policy (under which scores must be disputed the day of the event) and that second-guessing scores set a harmful precedent in that nothing would ever be finalized. Hamm supporters also pointed out that Yang's routine included 4 'hangs' instead of the 3 allowed, an error that, if caught, would have resulted in a penalty of .2 points, removing Yang from medal contention. Others argue that this deduction had not been taken when other gymnasts had exceeded the required number and therefore ought not to apply in this case.

Eventually, Bruni Gandi, President of the FIG, stated that the FIG would not change the results of the all-around. However, the FIG sent a letter to Hamm in care of the United States Olympic Committee, stating:

If, (according to you declarations to the press), you would return your medal to the Korean if the FIG requested it, then such an action would be recognised as the ultimate demonstration of Fair-play by the whole world. The FIG and the IOC would highly appreciate the magnitude of this gesture.

For the complete text, see .

The USOC was outraged by the FIG's request and refused to deliver the letter. In a response letter to the FIG, the USOC stated:

The USOC views this letter as a blatant and inappropriate attempt on the part of FIG to once again shift responsibility for its own mistakes and instead pressure Mr. Hamm into resolving what has become an embarrassing situation for the Federation. The USOC finds this request to be improper, outrageous and so far beyond the bounds of what is acceptable that it refuses to transmit the letter to Mr. Hamm.

In the letter, the USOC also noted that the IOC and its president, Jacques Rogge, opposed FIG's efforts to pressure Hamm in this manner, in direct contradiction to an implication made in the FIG's letter.

For the complete text of the USOC's response, see .

Yang then filed an official appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), seeking to have his score changed and be awarded the gold medal. On September 27, 2004, Hamm appeared before the court in Lausanne, Switzerland during a hearing that lasted eleven and one-half hours. Nearly one month later, on October 21, 2004, a three-judge CAS panel announced that the results from the Olympics would remain and that Paul Hamm would get to keep the gold medal. The verdict was final and could not be appealed. (See for the complete text of the decision.)

When asked whether or not he still deserved the gold medal by a news reporter, Hamm replied that he "shouldn't even be dealing with this." He later went on to say, "I do understand and feel the disappointment that Yang Tae Young has been subjected to, and I hope he understands what I have been through as well."

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Paul Hamm ]

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