I can only imagine what it might feel like to win an Olympic medal. Not to mention what it would feel like to win the gold.
Last week, Paul Hamm experienced the thrill of a lifetime when he became the first American to capture the gold in the men’s all-around gymnastics competition.
As he received his medal, he was just coming to terms with the fact he was the best gymnast in the world.
What a rush of energy these athletes must feel when they stand up on that podium and receive payment for all the sacrifices, time and effort that have gone into their training. No one can take that away.
Or can they?
Just days after Hamm’s heralding triumph, he learned the gold he thought he deserved did not really belong to him. It was announced Aug. 21 that three judges from the International Gymnastics Federation allegedly made an error assigning an incorrect start value for South Korean gymnast Yang-Tae-young.
Like Hamm, Yang should have been judged on a 10.0 scale for the difficulty of his high-bar routine but was mistakenly judged on a scale of 9.9. That one seemingly small 10th of a point had a potent effect on the outcome of the events.
It was enough to take Yang from third to first, making Hamm the silver-medal winner and fellow South Korean, Kim Dae-eun, the original second-place finisher, rank third.
Now Hamm must grapple with the knowledge that he is not really the world champion, only owner of the gold medal. On the contrary, Yang, who is actually the gold medalist, will return home with a bronze.
So who is the victim here? Hamm who has the gold but knows the title of world champion does not really belong to him? Or is it Yang, the true gold medalist who walks with the bronze — his moment to shine overshadowed and unrecognized on the podium. And then we cannot forget about Kim who much like Hamm must deal with the fact he is not the silver medalist, but the bronze.
It is the International Gymnastics Federation’s rule that results cannot be contested or changed after the event has drawn to a close, so Yang will likely go on to the Court of Arbitration for Sports in pursuit of the gold he already won.
As these events unfold one can only look back on the many dramas that arise each time the Olympic Games come around. Sometimes the athletes bring it upon themselves with issues such as drug abuse, but it is worse when it is brought upon the athletes because of the carelessness of Olympic officials.
One such case was in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City when a French judge succumbed to pressures from her superiors to award the Russian pairs figure skaters the gold over Canadians David Pelletier and Jamie Sale.
After much controversy, the Russian pair kept the gold medal they were awarded while the Canadian pair was given a second gold medal. This former situation should set the precedence for this situation.
It is disconcerting that Yang has to go to the effort of the arbitration when it is even more undeniable that he is deserving of the medal than it was in the case of the Canadian figure skaters. It would be a shame if the International Gymnastics officials refused to own up to their grandiose mistake.
A second gold should be awarded to Yang, but it will never erase the damage it did to the prestige of the Olympic Games, the sport of gymnastics and the accomplishment of these three men.
Lindsay Mosher ([email protected]) is a sophomore intending to major in journalism.
