August 24, 2004
R. D. Kushner

Subjectivity and fuzzy math in scoring the men’s gymnastics in Athens, has put Paul Hamm at the center of a controversy.

The technical merit of the Korean team’s appeal is well grounded. The governing body of gymnastics [FIG] admitted that the Korean gymnast, Yang, was incorrectly given a start value of 9.9 instead of a 10 on his parallel bars routine. The start value is an indicator of the difficulty of the routine, and when combined with the judges marks, affects the overall score; the higher the start value, the higher the potential overall score – depending on the gymnasts performance of course.

So ultimately, a math mistake cost Yang a gold medal. But the situation is more complicated than that; because the nature of competition is such that an athlete tends to perform to the level of their competition. If Yang’s scores had been calculated properly, and Paul Hamm had known the actual point separation between he and his Korean competitor, would he have been able to alter his performance to achieve a victory? Ultimately, this is a rhetorical question, because it’s impossible to know. Perhaps Hamm would have tried too hard and made an error if he know that Yang’s score had been the .051 points greater than he was erroneously scored.

In defense of his gold medal, Paul Hamm stated, “I truly believe in my heart that I am the Olympic all-around champion. I did my job, and I competed with pride and integrity.”

But perhaps this isn’t enough; perhaps Paul Hamm should have gone further. He might have offered the following, if he had as much dexterity as a politician as he has as a gymnast:

“I won the competition against a talented athlete who had officially scored a 57.774 in the men’s overall competition. On the high bar, I adjusted my performance level to win gold; to beat the score of my competitor. I was shooting for the stars, and I hit them. However, the reality is that a technical error in the judges’ scoring, unfairly lowered my competitors score on the parallel bars earlier in the competition. If I had known his actual score I think I still could have beat him; and in the field of competition, knowing what I and all of the world knew at the time, I did beat him. But now I am going to give this amazing athlete my gold medal to honor his performance, until such a time that the USOC and the Korean governing body can work out a solution which will also award me a gold medal for my competition winning performance.”

The United States Olympic Committee should have made a greater effort, immediately, to rectify the situation and make sure that the Olympic Games maintain their integrity – and to make sure that the United States shows that it can exercise some humility in sport, even if not in politics. The USOC should investigate a diplomatic solution where neither Paul Hamm nor Yang would be penalized for the mistakes of the judges. Paul Hamm is a young man with gifted gymnastic skills; among the exercises he practices, as a representative of the United States of America, one of them should be humility.