Sports
08/27/2004 10:53:50 EST Bebeto Matthews/AP Photo
Paul Hamm Asked to Give Up Gold Medal
By EDDIE PELLS
AP Sports Writer
ATHENS, Greece - World gymnastics officials asked Paul Hamm to give up his gold medal as the ultimate show of sportsmanship, but the U.S. Olympic Committee told them to take responsibility for their own mistakes and refused even to deliver the request.
In a dispute over scores that has turned into a political squabble, the head of the International Gymnastics Federation suggested in a letter to Hamm that giving the all-around gold medal to South Korea's Yang Tae-young "would be recognized as the ultimate demonstration of fair play by the whole world."
FIG president Bruno Grandi tried to send the letter Thursday night to Hamm through the USOC, which declined to pass it along.
In a letter back to Grandi, USOC secretary general Jim Scherr called the request "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 your 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," the letter said.
Hamm returned to the United States earlier this week. He declined comment Friday through his agent, but he has said in the past that he has no intention of giving up his medal unless ordered to do so by FIG.
Yang, the bronze medalist, was wrongly docked a tenth of a point on his parallel bars routine and finished third, 0.049 points behind Hamm. Add the extra 0.100, and Yang would have finished 0.051 points ahead of Hamm.
Three judges were suspended after the error was discovered, but FIG said the results would stand.
Grandi said he believed the issue was closed until he learned of Hamm's previous comment.
"For me, maybe he could have said, `I have won the gold medal and the FIG just has to tell me whether it maintains the results or not,'" Grandi said. "And not make a statement whether he would return the gold medal if we asked him to."
Although Grandi's letter says, "The true winner of the all-around competition is Yang Tae-young," the FIG president insisted he's not pressuring Hamm.
"There is no doubt he has won the medal," Grandi said. "He deserves the medal and the ranking is clear. ... I respect totally Paul Hamm and all the decisions he makes. If he says give back the medal, I respect it. Don't give back the medal, I respect the decision. He is not responsible for anything."
The USOC had a much different interpretation.
"I don't know of any comparison in any sport anywhere where you crown an athlete, crown a team and then say, `Oh, that was a mistake. Would you fix this for us?'" USOC chairman Peter Ueberroth said.
Ueberroth said the USOC considers the case closed, based on the FIG ruling that the scores cannot be changed. He also cited a statement from International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, who said the IOC would stick with the results turned in by the federation and wouldn't step in unless there were clear signs of impropriety.
"We are not going to give medals for so-called humanitarian or emotional reasons," Rogge said.
Grandi seemed to be appealing to Hamm's emotions. Above the "Dear Paul" greeting on Grandi's letter, the word "FAIRPLAY" was capitalized and printed in bold, black letters.
"The FIG and the IOC would highly appreciate the magnitude of this gesture," the letter said.
Earlier in the week, the USOC said it was willing to consider supporting the South Koreans' bid for a second gold medal. Scherr said that was no longer possible because of FIG's latest request. He said he regretted not coming out in support of Hamm as soon as the controversy began.
"I think we were at fault for not more strongly, more directly, showing our support for Paul," Scherr said. "I wish we would have done that more strongly and earlier
JonR
