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PAUL HAMM
Official website: www.makingtheolympics.com
Paul Elbert Hamm (born September 24, 1982 in Washburn, Wisconsin) is a US gymnast and Olympic gold 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 Hamm. He won the
silver medal in the team event 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. He nearly won the Gold on the horizontal bar but because of the
tie breaker, he was awared silver.
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Paul Hamm, 2002 US Nationals
Photograph copyright © Heather Maynez, www.gymnpics.com. All rights reserved. |
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)
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 given a
start value of 9.9 instead of 10.0 in the parallel bars event during the all-around final. The 0.100 point omitted from
Yang's start value in parallel bars, determined by the difficulty of the routine, was because the judges believed Yang
had performed a move called a "morisue" instead of a "belle" during his routine. The difference in difficulty between
those two moves — the 0.100 point — 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 long-standing
"Rules of Play" doctrine has prohibited sports officials from changing after a competition the decisions of officials
during the competition.
The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) also argued that changing scores after the fact was a violation of the rules
of the competition
(under which gymnastic scores must be disputed immediately — before the gymnasts move to the next piece of equipment,
but certainly before the medals are awarded) and that second-guessing scores set a harmful precedent in that the judges
at the event had to make the decisions and nothing would ever be finalized if second guessing and video review of
entire competitions after they ended were permitted. Hamm supporters also pointed out that Yang's routine included
four "hangs" instead of the three allowed, an error that, if caught, would have resulted in a penalty of 0.2 points,
removing Yang from medal contention.
Others argued that this deduction had not been taken when other gymnasts had exceeded the required number and therefore
ought not to apply in this case. Hamm supporters also contended that Hamm had earned the right to be the last gymnast
to compete based on his performance in the initial night of the competition and knowing what he needed to earn a gold,
silver, or bronze medal, he had adjusted his high bar routine accordingly. If Yang Tae Young had been awarded an additional
0.100 point, Hamm would have been able to adjust his routine to take account of that fact, and might have earned a higher
score on the high bar, the final piece of equipment.
Eventually, Bruno Grandi, 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 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."
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.
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 and the USOC 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.
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."
Immediately following the Olympics, General Mills announced which U.S. Olympians would appear on individual boxes of
Wheaties cereal: swimmer Michael Phelps, female gymnast Carly Patterson, and sprinter Justin Gatlin. Hamm was in talks
to appear on a box, but the talks were dropped after the controversy. Typically, these appearances are quite prestigious
and often lead to other endorsement deals.
For more information, visit his
profile page on the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique website.
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