Posted on 08/27/2004 8:37:20 PM PDT by doug from upland
Paul, we would like to congratulate you and support you. Your gold medal performance was nothing short of awesome. It was one of the great comebacks in sports history.
This American could not be more proud of you. You faced adversity, never gave up, and won the day.
Screw the Olympic Committee that is trying to taint your medal. It is uncalled for and unfair. You are the champion. We know that the judges screwed up the level of difficulty for the Korean, but they also screwed up by missing a 2/10 deduction.
Wear the gold proudly. America salutes your accomplishment.
Name the judges and what country they come from....that should be explanation enough.
Congratulations. What a great Olympics it's been and we're so proud of how well the American atheletes competed. Great job American Gold Medalist Paul Hamm!
This won't be the only time that you play well and properly by the rules as they are given to you only to learn later that the rules were flawed.
Or, to learn later that the people responsible for them were flawed.
So long as you played well and properly, so long as you earned whatever the prize by those rules.
The prize is yours.
Continue to support dual medals but keep the one you were awarded and never consider it to be less than it was at the time it was given to you.
The bottom line is that the Gymnastic Federation screwed up and when combined with their anti-American bias, Paul made a convenient scapegoat for their BS.
The heck with 'em.
Paul is indeed the true champion.
(Tainted my big fat butt!)
Paul Hamm was just on Anderson Cooper's show on CNN. He spoke out about the Gold medal issue. He said from the start that he wanted to go to the governing body with the tape that showed the Korean doing 4 holds in his parallel bar event. They are only allowed 3, the 4th hold is an automatic 2/10ths reduction.
He said that USA Gymnastics told him not to and that it would all blow over. I guess since it did not blow over, he decided to speak out. One could not blame him. A review of the tape shows that Hamm won the medal and the Korean should actually be scored lower.
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Paul won it and deserves the gold. The judges screwed up once in favor of the Korean and once against him. Had they done everything right, the gold is still Paul's. This is political bull****.
In case you hadn't noticed, your reply at #4 has been removed by a mod.
lol!!
I put this up as a congratulatory message to Paul that I want to send to him. I asked for the crap post to be pulled. Go start a critical one, don't highjack this one.
Do you mean these guys? But Spain's Benjamin Bango and Columbia's Oscar Buitrago Reyes were responsible for determining the start values. America's George Beckstead was the panel chairman, and therefore had ultimate responsibility for all the judges.Three judges were suspended, but the FIG said the results would not be changed, and that Hamm would keep his gold medal.
From the article at this thread. Ruling says Mistake Gave Paul Hamm Gold
As I understand it, the rules do not allow for the outcome demanded by the Koreans. Or you, for that matter. He should not be ashamed, he should not be unfairly penalized for an error (if it was an error) that was not of his own making. It has not been his place to "refuse" or "return" his gold under the rules competitors were governed by.
He's already been humiliated not only by his fall on the vault but with the minutes long booing during his single events, forcing him to interrupt his routine as well as the convenient ruling against him when he tied for the top score in the high bar, therefore awarding him Silver for an identical score. His twin, Morgan, although placed outside of the medals on his individual events, also conveniently lost in application of the tie-breaking formula.
Rather than be able to hold his head up high for an amazing comeback, unquestionably worth the silver, if not gold, he's been and will continue to be ridiculed by the international community and others in his competitive field despite being the current #1 ranked male gymnast and having clearly demonstrated superhuman resilience, determination and mental stamina. The behavior exhibited towards Paul Hamm is contemptible.
I salute you for the indomitable spirit you showed after the devastating vault fall. I'm truly inspired. That class and grace under unimaginable pressure, is worth more than any medal. Hold your head up high.</p>
Blame the 3 suspended judges....where they from? Spain is just France in a different uniform.
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