Friday, August 27, 2004
What outrageous pressure to put on the kid. Hamm worked his ass off only to have his greatest moment continue to be tainted all because of the incompetence of the people who are supposed to be in charge. Sad. If the FIG knew they screwed up, they should have asked the IOC to issue a second medal and been done with it, instead they put all the responsibility for their own error on a 21 year-old kid. He won the medal. Screw-ups are part of the game - especially a game of judgement calls. Apparently the judges screwed the scoring up anyway by missing something extra the Korean did that should have resulted in a further deduction. Oh well.
In the words of Mr. Miyagi: "Leave...the boy...alone."
Or, to stretch the idiom: "Find own solution to own problem."
Reuters: U.S. Is Furious at the Pressure on Paul Hamm
The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has said Hamm placed first in the all-round event due to a judging error and bronze medallist Yang Tae-young should have been awarded gold -- but it has no mechanism to overturn the original decision.
The FIG has now gone a step further and written to Hamm suggesting he could return his medal at its request, according to a letter released by the U.S. Olympic committee Friday.
"If ... you would return your medal to the Korean if the FIG requested it, then such an action would be recognized as the ultimate demonstration of Fairplay by the whole world," said the letter signed by FIG president Bruno Grandi and dated August 26.
The U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) said the letter was a "blatant and inappropriate" attempt by the FIG to shift responsibility for its mistake onto the shoulders of Hamm, 21.
"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," it said in a statement.
USOC chiefs had two lengthy conversations with Hamm, his parents and representatives Thursday night, it said.
"During these conversations, the USOC expressed its unwavering support for Mr. Hamm and indicated it will aggressively resist any attempt by any party to lay claim to his gold medal," the statement said...
As I read elsewhere...Hey Korea, this one's for Roy Jones, Jr.