Penny Stock

Athletes work their whole lives for the Olympics and to make a mistake this big is pretty sad. Paul Hamm states that in his heart he won the gold but the reality is he didn't, he won the gold because of a
mistake. I feel bad for Paul Hahm because his Silver
would have been something to be proud of but know its
tarnished and so is his gold.

No one is talking about Yang's four holds during his performance. He is only allowed three holds, but he took four. He wasn't discounted for the fourth hold according to the commentators. The judges may have errored in where they started Yang's score, but he lost the gold due to his performance. Hamm's performance outshined Yang's. Anyone who watched both performances knows that.

If both routines are reviewed and the Korean is marked down for his errors as he should have been, would Paul Hamm then be the "true" gold medal winner in your eyes? His performance was exemplary and he deserves the gold.

Paul's Gold is not tarnished and he shouldn't give it back! There is a system in place to challenge judges decisions (just like US Courts!!) and if you miss the deadline to protest its too late.

Paul Hamm is a cry baby. To be a true sportmanship you gotta face reality. They may of miscalculated but what Yang recieved is what would of gave him the gold. Paul should know that. Stop being a baby and think you won the gold because you didn't. I'm glad to see on live television half the world not cheering him on. I hope he felt stupid.

paul hamm is the greatest person alive...i love him and so should you all because he came from back from a total dissapointing vault and he won the gold, its not his fault the judges messed things up.

I really think paul shouldnt give up the gold medal because , its not his fault of how the judges messed up his score its there and paul did his very best and he should be able to keep it cause the judges messed up. and i hate how everyone is soo pissed at paul when he didnt do anything bad at all he didnt make a mistake. so why should the world be mad at him and he doesnt have to give up the gold medal if he doesnt want too. there is also no reason why anybody should be mad at paul hamm, they should be mad at the judges for there mistake. but even though this whole thing is going on i think paul hamm would proablly feel alot more proud if he just got the silver , instead of getting the wrong medal on accident.. but i still think Paul should be able to keep the medal and stuff its his own decision nobody elses.paul hamm is the greatest person alive!!!!!!!

Paul Hamm did the most wonderful thing in the world, he won the gold medal for his country. He deserves the best for hard work, trainings after trainings.

Who should be put on the hotseat: the judges who made the mistakes not Paul Hamm.

He keeps the gold for good.

1. If fallng down during the excersise is not stopping you from getting a gold medal, that means Olimpic Games are NOT FAIR anymore!

"On his fourth event, the U.S. gymnast had taken a disastrous fall in the Olympic all-around competition, stumbling on his vault landing and nearly wiping out the judges' table."
Source: http://www.startribune.com/stories/1661/4935289.html

2. "Yang's four holds ..." are nothing compare to falling down in the middle of exersise !!!
HAHAHA :-)))

3. And don't forget about russian guy who's grades were lowered because some ppl paid to judges! You should NOT believe to words, just look video :)

4. SHAME ON YOU !
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Rayden_NVL

coming back from a fall on vault..and following it up with almost perfect performances on parallel and high bar is a mark of a true champion..Paul Hamm did what he needed to do to get gold..thus he deserves it..The error wasnt is and he had nothing to do it! So i say shame on you-- americans who are trying to persecute Paul,coz Paul deserves to keep his gold medal

coming back from a fall on vault..and following it up with almost perfect performances on parallel and high bar is a mark of a true champion..Paul Hamm did what he needed to do to get gold..thus he deserves it..The error wasnt is and he had nothing to do it! So i say shame on you-- americans who are trying to persecute Paul,coz Paul deserves to keep his gold medal

Absolutely Paul Hamm earned his gold medal. The FIG can't just change Yang's last score and call him the winner. In my mind, the FIG would need to then review every single score posted by every gymnast in the All Around competion that night on the 5 events. I'll bet they would find more examples of judging errors throughout the entire competition. Who knows who the winner could be if they did that?
There is no instant replay rule in gymnastics. You can't change the score of any game after its all over.
"To be a true sportmanship you gotta face reality." The reality is that Hamm has won the Gold medal. Those are the rules of the sport.

The reality is that Paul Hamm *has* a gold medal, but he did not *win* it. I hope we don't see his picture on a box of Wheaties.

Paul Hamm most definitely earned his gold medal. These judges made a human error, but if it had been done correctly, Paul would have won regardless of the start values. He has been a stand up guy through all of this turmoil that he doesn't deserve, and if the FIG tells him to give the medal back, he will.He is a very honorable young man, and has a great future ahead of him.

You know all the people with negative comments apparemtly don't understand that bad calls happen in every sport and once they are called that's it. It happens in Soccer, volleyball, gymnastics, diving, and any sport that has referees, and/or judges as part of it. i've played sports and i had i couple of bad calls. I have also known of bad calls in my favor but when one is competing we only think about doing our best and winning. If that's what got Paul Hamm to the top, accept it, it is his and that is it. Leave it alone, case is closed. Let him be, how would you feel if you were in his shoes? Think about it! You would feel the same way he did.

The "REALITY" is that Paul Hamm IS the best gymnast in the world and the Koreans need to get over the fact that there is someone better than them in gymnastics... and thats Paul Hamm!

You go Paul!!!

Paul Hamm deserved that all around gold, he wom it fair and square, and worked really hard to get it.Sure he fell on vault, but he made up for it in parallel bars and high bar where he was perfect. The only reason Yang thinks he deserved the gold is because he is jealous of Paul, and he proved that he didn't deserve the gold in the individual competition.

This is for Paul Hamm. Paul, you ARE gold. You came back from 12th place TO WIN. IF "they" suddenly feel there was an error made, then a second gold should be awarded. The error was not yours. But if they review the other guy's performance, and take off the .2 for four holds, then you definitely are the one, the only, all around winner. Do not give up your medal! You earned it. I am so sorry your victory has so much contriversy involved. Someone once told me "you are a wonderful person no matter what's going on around you." and you are.

Paul deserve that gold medal and it's his, not Yang. Anyway Yang proved he doesn't deserved the gold medal in the individual competition, hahaha Yang deserved that fall.

Paul should keep it because he proved that he's the best.

Stupid judges trying to hate Americans.

I don't give a damn if this Hamm guy'd give up the, not his, gold medal. However, I'm much more concerned about how some people have reacted to this whole mess. Everybody knows that it's not his fault but the judges' in handling the scores. Judges' errors don't make Hamm a legitimate winner and in fact quite the contrary. For anyone who doesn't understand this logic, I have nothing more to add to it. If Hamm decided to do the right thing of returning the medal (It has been done before when Irina Karavaeva learned that a judging error had wrongly given her the title at the 2001 trampoline world championships,s he asked that it be given to the rightful winner, Anna Dogonadze.), Great!! And if not, the IOC should acknowlege the mistake (which it did) and correct the result. One last thing, for those Americans who happens to disagree with my view point, what would your reactions be if you were in the Korean shoes?
Say all you want folks, but the whole world is watching!

I believe that Paul Hamm definitely deserved his gold medal. How many other gymnasts could comeback from a heartbreaking fall and then continue to perform (magnificently) like it never even happened? I think most of the judges' scoring throughout both the men's and women's competitions were truly deplorable. If every routine were judged absolutely fairly, there would be definite changes on the medal podiums. Anyone who watched the competition would know.

Paul Hamm's scores were good enough to win him the gold medal even counting a major fall on one apparatus. Can't say the same about Yang Tae-Yung. Now tell me who's the real Olympic Champion? Nuff said.

I love Paul Hamm! I feel asleep after his big fall and I wook up the next morning and couldn't believe he won! He is a true Olympic Medalist! All you in America should be proud of him and what he did for his country! I wanna see all you out there and put in all the time and effort he did to get where he got! He should not have to give up the gold medal! He earned it and if the judges made a mistake why did they wait days to tell they made a mistake! Paul Hamm is a gold medalist who deserves it and you all know it!

Oh my God! The dolts commenting in this section are simply hysterical. Who is this dolt, Rayden? You obviously know nothing about gymnastics. I was a judge for 16 years, an athlete, a choreographer and a coach. Helloooooooo....news flash...The points for Paul Hamm's vault WERE taken off! The 2 tenths for Yang's holds were not. Yang DOES NOT deserve the gold. Mistakes were made on BOTH sides and they are in favor of Hamm. Yang's score should have been one tenth LOWER. But that's beside the point. You cannot look at films after a gymnastics event when judgment calls are made! Every meet would last 100 hours, and EVERY athlete's films would have to be looked at! Paul is truly the GOLD MEDALIST and everyone who is educated and part of the gymnastics community knows that! For all you folks writing in that are not involved in the sport, you should keep your opinions to yourself!

Paul Hamm had one of the greatest comebacks in history. He deserves the medal. The judges should be the ones in the hot seat not him.
Who's to say the Yang should have one. He also had mistakes. For one, on the parallel bars he had 4 holds, when only 3 holds are the allowed. So right there that is a deduction which was not taken. Also he fumbled his grip on the bar and points were not deducted.
Hamm is completely right for not giving up his gold medal. Both sides had mistakes. Yang lost to Hamm before at the World Championships so it makes sense for Hamm to beat him again. And as Myrna said, if you know nothing about the sport of gymnastics than you should not criticize something you know nothing about!

Paul and Morgan Hamm are the best of the best!

Well, everyone makes mistakes. Athletes make mistakes and judges make mistakes. It's not matter of who made mistakes nor who deserves gold medal. I think every athletes in Olympic deserve to get gold medal. For Paul, he should give up gold medal to Yang and still be proud. We Americans will be more proud for Paul if he gives up the gold. What's the point of holding onto the gold medal he did not win? Judges/Jurors have final say no matter what. I still think OJ Simpson is guilty but he is a freeman, what do you think about that huh????

I love Paul and he did deserve the gold medal because if you actually watched the Olympics then you would have heard that Yang's score could have been reduced even more!!! Paul did nothing wrong! The judges scored the gymnasts according to how they thought the performances were. Apparently, the reason they didn't give Yang higher scores than Paul is because they didn't believe that he deserved the gold more than Paul did. I think Yang just needs to embrace the fact that he's not gonna get the silver and he sure as hell is not gonna get the gold because that belongs to the best gymnast in the world, my man, Paul Hamm......call me!!!

Paul Hamm deserved that gold medal more than anyone in the world, and he should keep his head high because he is so awesome and so amazing and...he's the best gymnast in the world! Paul...call me!!

As in any sport that has human judges there is liability for error cause NO ONE is perfect. You have to add up the pros and con is yangs performance so he missed a tenth at the beginning but how much would have been taken of for the fourth HOlD? So in conclusion Paul won the gold medal on his own merit and Yang didn't set his complaint up in time and it wouldn't be a fair if he got the medal cause it was AFTER the performance if it was any other sport it wouldn't have changed it. So Yang will have to learn from his mistake and move on!

I love Paul and he did deserve the gold medal because if you actually watched the Olympics then you would have heard that Yang's score could have been reduced even more!!! Paul did nothing wrong! The judges scored the gymnasts according to how they thought the performances were. Apparently, the reason they didn't give Yang higher scores than Paul is because they didn't believe that he deserved the gold more than Paul did. I think Yang just needs to embrace the fact that he's not gonna get the silver and he sure as hell is not gonna get the gold because that belongs to the best gymnast in the world, my man, Paul Hamm......call me!!!

I admire Paul for his strength and I admire both, Paul and Morgan for being such good athletes. I hope Paul will be able to enjoy his "Gold" very soon. They awarded him the "Gold" so don't try and make him responsible for the mess. Concentrate on the judges, they did not do a good job.

Judging should be changed, may be a second judge should verify the decision of the first judge. It might take a little more time, but it might be more accurate.

Good Luck to both, Paul and Morgan.

It is sad to read comments from people who obviously know nothing about gymnastics, like a comment from Jennifer...how dare you call Paul a cry-baby. I have been watching gymnastics for years and judges always make mistakes and that is the nature of the game. The Korean is the one you should call a cry-baby, he made mistakes and procedures to file complaint were not filed properly and Paul gave it his all and won the gold. If we allow athletes to review after the fact then maybe with his automatic 2 point deduction,for his 4 holds, Tae wouldn't have won any medal at all. Don't jump on the band-wagon and make comments on a subject you know very little about.

I have zero respect for Paul Hamm. He did not technically win the gold and those who believe he did are doing him a great disservice!!! He needs to be encouraged to do the right thing and give the Gold to the Korean who did not fall over after the Vault. Yes his following routines were great!! But in my heart and mind I'm ashamed of his lack of dignity and ashamed he did not represent the US honorably.

Not to discredit the game of football at all, but the people that keep leaning on the line that compares this scoring error to one that can occur in a football game are truly in over their heads. You say that Paul Hamm worked all his life for this event so he deserves to keep the gold? (which by the way is so typical of the American way of nurturing the weak.) Well I'm sure that Yang Tae Young, who most RIGHTFULLY deserves that gold, has worked just as hard for it too. After all, the Olympics takes place just once every four years, unlike a football game. And for Yang to just walk away from this situation would be ridiculous.

Oh, and another thing... a scoring error consisting of actual MISCALCULATIONS of tallying up the final scores can not in all seriousness be compared to a score given to an athlete by a judge at the end of the routine, three holds or not.

To Jenna: My understanding of the incorrect start value for the Korean gymnast is NOT that it was a miscalculation but rather a misjudgement by the judges that set the Start value. The Start Value is determined at the time the exercise is performed based on the skills performed. At the time of his event, they judged it to be a 9.9, not a 10. After the entire competition was over, the Koreans asked why it was a 9.9 when in a previous competition it had been a 10. The point is it was a misjudgement not a miscalculation, just as the missed extra hand hold was a misjudgement. The thing that needs to be remembered here is that there are rules and procedures for questioning a competitor's score. Those procedures were not followed. Video replay does not exist in the gymnastics rulebook. Even the FIG, the governing body for world gymnastics, has said it will NOT change the scores, but yet they expect Hamm to give up the Gold medal. What a joke. They say they were wrong but they won't change the score. When they are willing to change the score and truly take responsibility for the outcome, then and only then should Paul Hamm consider returning the Gold. By the way, I have never heard anything about the other Korean returning his Silver medal.

So would all these people who are saying "I love hamm, hamm is so wonderful, hamm is the greatest person alive, I want to have hamms baby, hamm is the wo-man", be giving praise to an athlete in the same position if the situation was reversed, if the scoring error was in the favor of the Korean, instead of an American? NO. They would be angry, saying hamm is the true winner....you all are just as greedy and selfish as hamm is and thats what makes all Americans look bad in this situation....it doesnt matter about the technicalities, the bottom line is that if the scoring error hadnt been made, he wouldnt have won gold, it doesnt matter what excuses you make up to make it sound better....

the FIG, the IOC and the USOC are at fault for making this a bigger mess than it ever was. they broke the rules just to review the tapes that showed the judging error. everyone was pawning off their responsibility for the mistake on paul, because they didn't want to deal with it. The USOC, which did almost nothing to stop the media frenzy surrounding the controversy, FINALLY stood up for paul when the FIG tried to send a letter saying he should give up the medal. sure, he's not the actual winner of the competition. but tape review only clouds everything more. paul's the gold medalist because the judges gave him the medal. that cannot be changed.

and it was a sweet ,sweet comeback.

Wow. I cannot believe some of you. Kevin, it doesn't matter about the technicalities? The whole "controversy" with the start value IS a technicality. And if you're going to try and correct one mistake, why on Earth would you not correct the mistake with the extra hold, which is a bigger change in scores? Two tenths that didn't get taken off. One tenth that did. If the start value had been right and the judges still hadn't taken off the extra .2 for the extra hold in the Korean's parallel bar routine, he wouldn't be the true winner and you'd be here saying Paul deserved gold. The point is: Paul Hamm won. He had the greatest comeback ever and he won. He should definitely NOT give up that gold because with everything balancing out, he won fair and square. GO PAUL!

THE JUDGES SCREWED UP. Not Mr. Hamm. And FIG trying to Place the Fault on Mr. Hamm is EXTREMELY COWARDLY. Every one makes mistakes including Mr. Hamm, any one could see the four hold. Mr. Hamm Congradulations for "WINNING" a Gold Medal for your Country. A job almost perfectly done.

I think that you were AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think that you showed alote of kids that if you work hard than you can do any thing.CONGRADULATIONS on you Gold metal.

I think that you were AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think that you showed alote of kids that if you work hard than you can do any thing.CONGRADULATIONS on you Gold metal.

What a great performane from Paul and Judges!
I admire Paul for his sportsmenship and I admire Judges too!
It's a great movie. I looooooooove it!"
the Title," Judges of Gold medal" or " Paul and Judges"
Great! and Great!
I hope to see this funny show again next Olympic Games!

Did anybody read this statement attributed from Paul Hamm at American press:
"IF THE FIG WILL DECIDE THAT I HAVE TO GIVE IT BACK, I'll DO IT."
The FIG President wrote a letter to Paul Hamm asking him to return the gold metal to the Korean.
He refused to return the metal. BIG LOSER. Broke your promise. Shamed for American.
I understand this is not Mr Hamm's fault. Just keep your mouth shut, if you're not intended to give back your metal no matter what.

If Paul Hammm is the Champ, Why The General Mills Inc, the maker of the Wheaties cereal is
not include his picture on the cereal box.

Beside, this is not judge error. This is totally DISCRIMINATION. Because Yang Tae Young is not American. 0.1 point is automatic deducted from the start value.

It doesn't matter he willing return the gold metal or not. The true winner is Yang Tae Young.

I agree with what you said:
Paul Hamm shouldn't said that:
"IF THE FIG WILL DECIDE THAT I HAVE TO GIVE IT BACK, I'll DO IT."
"IF THE FIG WILL DECIDE THAT I HAVE TO GIVE IT BACK, I'll DO IT."
"IF THE FIG WILL DECIDE THAT I HAVE TO GIVE IT BACK, I'll DO IT."

If he did, he should return the gold metal when FIG requested it.

There is nothing fair in this world. Money is power. The more money you have. The more power you are. Just like the America. Other counties have to kiss their ass.

In a letter addressed to Hamm and released by the U.S. Olympic committee, the FIG wrote: "The true winner of the all-round competition is Yang Tae-young."

Paul Hamm is the Best!!!!!!!!

To all you people who think he doesn't deserve that metal, I'd like to see you get up there and have a fall like that and still win. If Yang's score had been scored correctly, he wouldn't have even made it into metal standing, so if you don't know what you're talking about, SHUT UP!

I think that the bottom line is that so many people are so jealous of this man's accomplishments that they can't stand it. He won, and I would bet 10 bucks to anyone he'll do it again at the World Championships. It's not like the man has never won a competition in his life, he was the 2003 World Champion and has 3 National Championships. Instead of downing Paul because you could never be him, how about giving him your support because he is a terrific athlete. He has handled this entire manner with dignity, and all his fellow Americans can do is talk shit about him. Anyone who has bad things to say about this, should try what he has had to do, just once, I bet you'd be a little more sympathetic if it was you.
Think about it, Yang knew he messed up, that was why they waited until the competition was over to say anything, so that no one would remember. Why do you think it is the SOuth Korean deligation and not him specifically going after this metal, he knows that metal belongs to Paul, and so does anyone who watched the Olympics. I think he deserves two metals just for having to put up with all this crap.