Posted on 08/19/2004 9:02:17 AM PDT by medscribe
Unfavorable Scoring Denies Gymnasts
Landing on the mat with a thud finishing his last routine on the high bar, Yang Tae-young clenched his fist signaling his confidence of becoming the first-ever South Korean gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal.
Yang, ranked first after five routines, was waiting for his score but when the scoreboard flashed 9.475, lower than his expectation to put him behind teammate Kim Dae-eun, his face went rigid. To make matters worse Paul Hamm of the United States, the reigning world champion, displayed his ambitious routine right after Yang and earned a score of 9.837.
Hamm’s total score was 57.823, only 0.012 point above Kim for the narrowest margin of victory in the Olympic individual all-around event.
Since at the 1988 Seoul Olympics when Park Jong-hoon won bronze in the vault, South Korea has aspired to win an Olympic gold, but came up short.
Ryu Ok-ryul won a bronze at the 1992 Barcelona Games and Yeo Hong-chul matched the achievement in the same event at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Lee Joo-hyung won a silver in the parallel bars and a bronze in the high bar, but still there was no gold.
In Athens it seemed like Korea’s time had finally come but it wasn’t to be. However, Yang, a quadruple gold medallist at the 2003 Daegu Universiade, and Kim marked the first time South Koreans had medalled in a gymnastics’ event together, as well as becoming the first to mount the podium in the all-around event.
The 20-year-old Kim emerged as a new star when few expected him to.
``I only regret that my team couldn't share in the medal, and I am alone in enjoying this,’’ Kim said.
After three routines Yang was fifth and Kim was out of the top 10 but Hamm made a tremendous mistake of falling down on his landing in the vault and other top competitors faltered with mistakes too. Before the last routine Hamm was fourth while Kim was second.
``Perhaps I got a little too confident and made mistakes,’’ Yang said. ``I apologize to my teammates.’’
``It is quite possible the judges scored, consciously or not, in favor of Hamm,’’ Kim Sung-ho, manager of men’s technical committee at the Korea Gymnastic Association, told The Korea Times.
``t goes in two ways. They might have scored him in a sympathetic way after a star like Hamm tumbled in the vault event, and it cannot be overlooked that the United States is powerful in FIG (International Gymnastic Federation).’’
Kim also noted that the practice of favoring gymnasts from certain countries has a long history, citing Lee Joo-hyung’s case at the previous Olympics where two suspiciously low scores from the judges cost him a pair of gold
Hamm’s routine in the vault was a 9.9-maximum performance and 0.7 point should be deducted for his crossing the zone and crouching, Kim explained.
``In usual circumstances, one wouldn’t get a score more than 9.0, but it happened that way,’’ Kim said.
``I would have scored 9.5 for Yang and 9.0 for Hamm,’’ he added.
Hamm is a great gymnast and few would deny that. However, in the history of the sport at the Olympics, no individual event champion tumbled down from the apparatus as he did. In many ways for sure, Hamm will be remembered as an interesting case of an Olympic champion.
They lost fair and square.
I don't like sports where the scoring is on a subjective basis.
GOD! Let's keep them OUT of the USA. The DIMS already have a big enough voter base.
Funny no mention is made of our other contender for the US who was in 4th place, did one of his best ever routines on the Rings with no visible faults and stuck the landing, yet rec'd a 9.1 to knock him out of medal contention. He's not whining.
Yeah, Paul Hamm turned in a terrific routine on the High Bar. He deserved that gold. After his crash on the vault when he fell to 12th place, I thought he was finished for sure. But he came back to claim the spotlight. To quote George Patton, Americans love an underdog. We love Hamm and he won his gold medal fair and square. God Bless America.
I watched the gymnasts perform and I would have to agree that he was robbed of the gold. The Koreans performed well and were given a couple low scores. Well, this is what I thought.
This is why I have little or no interest in most Olympic sports.
What about the USA Equestrian team that lost the Bronze because of a whining German team?
I went to bed too early, I missed this. When I went to bed they were saying it would be a miracle if he could get a bronze.
Our #2 guy really seemed to get screwed as he turned in a terrific routine on high bar. He should have been in there competing for the bronze, but was dumped way down.
It's George Bush's fault ! George Bush conspired with Haliburton to blackmail the judges into lowballing the score of the South Korean so he could extend American Imperialist dominance of Men's Gymnastics!
I watched the enitre gynastics finals. Wasn't it the Chinese guy who was ahead, but lost it on his high bar routine? That was the opening for Hamm.
If it's subjective then it is not a sport, its like art. Sport is first past the winning tape, sport is the strongest, the fastest or the most accurate. Sport is something that can be measured by the athlete and not measured by opinion.
I think all subjective events should be removed from the games.
I prefer female volleyball. Pictures anyone?
Funny how conveniently they forget Seoul 1988, when Roy Jones Jr. was robbed for the Gold in boxing against the South Korean, whom he pounded to a pulp.
I came home just in time to watch the last of it,Hamm nailed his last routine he earned his gold.
Personally, I prefer the swimmers. I think they have the most aesthetic bodies. I like the long, smooth musculature over the bulk look.
Hamm was the reigning world champion. To his credit, his final two scores were not out of the ordinary for his ability.
Kim Dae Eun isn't entirely wrong though. He did compete very well and was deserving of his scores. His beef is with the judges, but the South Koreans will end up faulting the United States.
I'm with you there. Don't give me waifs, and don't give me hormonally-challenged "women." I also prefer the zaftig look.
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