Legal Gymnastics Over an Olympic Gold Medal

Re “Tarnished Gold,” editorial, Oct. 2: The avaricious, jingoistic response of Paul Hamm and self-serving supporters like Rep. James F. Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) insults Olympic integrity and is an embarrassment to American Olympians who actually earned their medals.

Hamm’s childish clinging to an undeserved victory vitiates all that Olympic gold stands for. His training, hard work and brilliant competitive performances mean nothing if he doesn’t do the right thing.

What a sorry example for younger competitors, and what a colossal public failure of personal integrity. Paul, do yourself and America a favor: Be gracious and hand the gold medal to the guy who actually won it.

David Pieri

Pasadena

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It is hard to believe that The Times is using its idle time to slam Hamm’s actions. He won the all-around gold medal in men’s gymnastics simply through playing by the rules.

Arguing that the “field-of-play” result in this case ought to be changed because it “involves arithmetic” is rather hollow. Most field-of-play results in sports involve arithmetic, yet those results in non-Olympic sports aren’t changed after the game and especially after the medals or trophies have already been handed out. Why should gymnastics be conducted any differently?

Ty Reames

Long Beach

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Has Kim Dae Eun (the other South Korean gymnast) done the “honorable” thing and given up his silver medal in exchange for a bronze?

After all, if Yang Tae Young is promoted from third to first or even a tie for first, then Kim finished behind two people and should be demoted to third.

John Schiermeier

Valencia

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It amazes me that anybody thinks Paul Hamm deserves the gold medal. It’s the same as receiving a paycheck, being paid in error for hours not worked and then being upset when the error is caught and the extra pay is taken back.

Jeffery P. Segall

Long Beach

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You mention that the International Gymnastics Federation sent a letter to Hamm asking him to graciously turn over his medal to the “true winner,” without noting that the head of the U.S. Olympic Committee and its chairman, Peter Ueberroth, were themselves outraged that the request was even made.

Both noted that if a mistake is made and the competition continues without its being corrected (the responsibility here of the South Korean coaches), no one can say what the final result would have been, as subsequent actions can then alter the result.

Dennis Stone

Los Angeles

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After reading your editorial, I recalled an incident I had with my dad when I was a teen. The two of us played the board game Scrabble from time to time, and he would always win.

One day I beat him in a close game. He gracefully acknowledged defeat and I was in Scrabble heaven. Since we always saved our score sheets, I looked this one over. And there it was. He had made a mistake in scoring. I didn’t win after all.

I took a while to bask in my win, but it just didn’t feel the same. I ended up telling Dad he was still the reigning champion and I was the forever contender. We played more over the years. And darn it, I never won.

So I am embarrassed for Paul Hamm. I would have been proud had he done the right thing in recognizing the error and handing over the medal. He’d be an Olympic hero to many, and he wouldn’t need a cavalcade of attorneys trying to convince the world that he won the gold medal fair and square, instead of maybe somebody’s dad simply making a mistake in scoring.

Barbara Strickland

Los Angeles