American Politics

American Politics  » Paul Hamm: Did He Deserve Gymnastics Gold in 2004?

Paul Hamm: Did He Deserve Gymnastics Gold in 2004?

What’s the controversy all about?

In the 2004 Olympics, an all-star group of athletes from

around the world gathered together to compete for titles in

gymnastics. In the spirit of competition, there are always

tensions between analysts and spokespersons about whether

or not athletes deserve the medals they receive.

Sometimes, judges are found to be at fault for the

controversy, and other times the fiasco is trumped up by

uneducated speculation. In this case, the Paul Hamm stir

was due to an ancillary error.: the judges mistakenly set

his rival’s starting score at 9.9 rather than 10.0. Many

believe that it is this error that cost Yang Tae Young, the

South Korean rival of Paul Hamm, the all-around gold medal

in gymnastics.

Gymnastics judging is not a science.

This is proven again and again. There is no mathematical

way of measuring gymnastics routines -- in fact, gymnastics

is perhaps one of the most subjective sports of all. No

goals are involved, as in soccer - no hoops like in

basketball; no bullseyes are involved, as in archery; one

does not go for distance or height, as in pole vaulting or

shot put. In gymnastics, an athlete is judged on form,

scored on perfection. It is exceedingly difficult to do so

accurately, as there are no vectors that can be calculated

to see if someone grasps hold of the parallel bars

incorrectly or lands with a wobble.

If you have ever been to a gymnastics competition, you

probably understand that panels look at execution for their

scoring: something that is full of twists and turns and is

poorly executed will score lower than something that is

simpler but perfectly executed. The criteria for measuring

this aspect of gymnastics include stability and landings --

whether or not he or she wavered in the element’s terminus,

or held position for less than three seconds at the end of

the routine, or took an extra step or stumbled. This does

indeed lead to criticism of the judges’ abilities to do

their job, and leads also to mistakes in scoring.

Why does Paul Hamm deserve gold?

Paul Hamm, like any other athlete, is and was not a part of

the politics of the game. He was there to compete, and

indeed, he was there to win. This is the goal of thousands

of Olympic hopefuls around the world -- to go to the games

and to show their skill at the sport they love best. In

all actuality, no athlete should have to deal with the

things Paul Hamm was forced through. It is entirely

understandable that he should refuse to give up his medal

-- the gold is certainly not tainted; it was his and his

alone. The mistakes of the judges are not his to bear. He

is an incredible gymnast, indeed.

Why does Yang Tae Young, his rival, not deserve gold?

Perhaps more convincing is the reason as to why Yang Tae

Young, Paul Hamm’s Korean rival, does not deserve the gold

medal so many have attributed to him. Firstly, the Korean

gymnastics team’s representative was late in calling in a

complaint, which made the investigation itself - and all

the stress associated with it - completely invalid (Olympic

rules state, that a protest needs to be made

before the end of any full game, such as with the parallel

Today's Popular Articles

• The Eternal Lure Of Gambling

• The Roots of Anti-Americanism

bars, and the Koreans did not do so). Even then, the

judges were suspended, and the probing took place.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, even if the judges

gave Tae Young the extra .10 points warranted by the

difficulty of his routine, he still would have scored lower

than he did because of yet another ancillary error. After

the tapes were reviewed, it was revealed that Tae Young

accidentally made four holds on the bars rather than the

allotted three, which would have resulted in a deduction of

.2, still leaving him with a deficit of a tenth of a point.

The snafu regarding Paul Hamm’s gold medal - versus, of

course, giving the medal up to the South Korean team - is

regretable. There should have been no question

that Hamm deserved his medal, and he certainly should not

have had to deal with the problems around the world. Nor,

indeed, did he deserve all of the ill press surrounding his

name. The gold medal was well-earned. It certainly bears

no tarnishing, and neither does his record.

By Murray Hughes

Gymnastics Secrets Revealed

”The book EVERY gymnastics parent should read”

http://www.gymnasticssecretsrevealed.com/gymnastics-articles/paul-hamm.htm

About the Author

If your child is a gymnast and you enjoyed this article, you

will definitely enjoy reading the zero cost, 5-day course

Gymnastics Tips Course written especially for gymnastics

parents by a gymnastics parent.

http://www.GymnasticsSecretsRevealed.com