morganpaulhamm (![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} morganpaulhamm) wrote in ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} hamm_twins,@ 2004-10-21 16:46:00 |
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More Articles About Paul's Medal!!
This article from the Kansas City Star hints that Paul may now finally end up on the Wheaties Box.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascit
Posted on Thu, Oct. 21, 2004
Hamm keeps his gold medal
By MIKE DeARMOND The Kansas City Star
All that glitters is still golden and hanging around the neck of Paul Hamm.
The international Court of Arbitration for Sports in Lausanne, Switzerland, ruled Thursday against the protest by South Korea's Yang Tae-Young that sought to overturn the American gymnast's winning performance in the men's all-around at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
And so, after more than two months of challenge, speculation and international political intrigue on an Olympian scale, Hamm is certain the first men's all-around medal won by an American in Olympic history on Aug. 18 in Athens, Greece, will forever remain in his possession.
“There's been a lot of fighting for this medal,� Hamm said during a teleconference on Thursday morning from New York City. “I've felt like I've won it three times already. I've won it in the competition and with the media and then finally in the court.
“I think it will mean that much more, that I will be able to keep it for the rest of my life.�
Hamm, given the opportunity to say ‘I told you so,' largely did not do so.
He did say he would like an apology from the international gymnastics federation (FIG) and president Bruno Grandi, who, in a letter trying to pressure Hamm to voluntarily give up the gold medal, wrote: “The true winner of the all-around competition is Yang Tae-Young.�
Hamm also said he would have liked to have been supported more fully by his own national federation, USA Gymnastics, which did not have a representative present at the teleconference.
Jeff Benz, attorney for the United States Olympic Committee, did itemize some of those concerns in explaining the CAS decision not to overturn — merely on the basis of an erroneous start value for the South Korean on the parallel bars — the third-place finish of Yang.
Benz also took a shot at FIG.
“The court went out of its way to emphasize that the international gymnastics federation handled this matter improperly on at least three fronts,� Benz said.
“First, that the international federation publicly accepted without qualification that there was an error in the judging of their officials.
“Second, the international federation publicly stated that but for the error that Yang would have won the event, which is completely speculative.
“And third, the international federation sought to pressure Paul Hamm to surrender his medal to Paul Hamm when there was no reason to do so.�
And so, finally, all is as close to what it should have been, as it can be.
There will be a real celebration back home in Wisconsin, Hamm said.
Hamm's face will likely now appear on the face of those Wheaties boxes, something of a post-Olympic American tradition. An agreement to feature Hamm on that cereal product on grocery store shelves was pulled pending the CAS decision.
“It's been difficult, and I would have liked to not deal with it,� Hamm said. “I'm just glad it's over with.�
From: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olym
Hamm gold backed by CAS; protest exhausted
From USA TODAY staff reports
Gymnast Paul Hamm will keep his Olympic gold medal.
On Thursday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected Korean gymnast and bronze medalist Yang Tae Young's appeal that the results of the men's individual all-around competition be changed, giving him the gold and Hamm the silver.
"This is obviously a great day for me," said Hamm, the first American man to win the Olympic men's all-around. " I'm proud to be the Olympic all-around gold medalist. The decision from CAS confirms what was always in my heart — that I am the Olympic champion."
U.S. Olympic Committee interim chief executive officer Jim Scherr said he was pleased CAS recognized and upheld a "field-of-play" decision.
"We are exceptionally pleased with the decision of CAS in this matter," Scherr said. "We are very pleased for Paul there's no longer any question regarding his status as the Olympic champion. We hope he will now be able to enjoy and bask in his accomplishments of that night."
On Aug. 20, two days after Hamm came back from a 12th-place crash landing on the vault to win the men's all-around competition in the closest margin of victory in Olympic history (.012), FIG admitted Yang mistakenly was given a 9.9 instead of a 10.0 start value on his parallel bars routine. FIG suspended three judges but said the results would stand.
But six days later, FIG President Bruno Grandi asked the U.S. Olympic Committee to deliver a letter to Hamm. In that letter, Grandi declared Yang the "true winner," reiterated that the results would stand and said it was up to Hamm to correct the mistake by agreeing to give his gold medal to Yang "as the ultimate demonstration of Fairplay."
On Aug. 29, Yang, backed by the Korean Olympic Committee, appealed to CAS, arguing he would have won the event with the extra tenth of a point in start value.
In Thursday's decision, CAS disagreed.
"An error identified with the benefit of hindsight, whether admitted or not, cannot be a ground for reversing a result of a competition. … However, quite apart from the consideration that no one can be certain how the competition in question would have turned out had the official's decision been different, for a Court to change the result would on this basis still involve interfering with a field of play decision. Each sport may have within it a mechanism for utilising modern technology to ensure a correct decision is made in the first place (e.g. cricket with run-outs) or for immediately subjecting a controversial decision to a process of review (e.g. gymnastics) but the solution for error, either way, lies within the framework of the sport's own rules."
Also at issue was the timing of the Koreans' protest of the incorrect start value. During the Sept. 27 12-hour hearing before CAS, the U.S. Olympic Committee argued Koreans failed to protest Yang's start value in a timely manner.
Thursday, CAS arbitrators agreed that any protest concerning the start value should be made before the end of the competition, in accordance with FIG rules. In this case, the arbitrators ruled the protest occurred after the end of the competition.
Since he first learned of the Koreans' protest of an incorrect start value on Yang's parallel bar routine, Hamm adamantly has declared himself the true Olympic champion. "I played by the rules, and I won by the rules," he said recently.
The three-person CAS panel praised the behavior of Yang and Hamm throughout the controversy: "They were the victims of this unusual case because a shadow of doubts has been cast over Hamm's achievement in winning the sport's most prestigious prize and because Yang may have been deprived of an opportunity of winning it."
From: http://www.jsonline.com/sports/etc/oct0
There's also an audio clip on the site from this morning's teleconference
Hamm will keep gold medal
International panel of judges rejects South Korean appeal
By DON WALKER
dwalker@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Oct. 21, 2004
Paul Hamm remains the Olympic champion in men's all-around gymnastics
In a long-awaited decision released Thursday morning, the international Court of Arbitration for Sport, based in Switzerland, dismissed an appeal by South Korean gymnast Yang Tae-Young.
The decision means Hamm, who grew up in Waukesha and now lives in Columbus, Ohio, can keep the Olympic gold medal he won in the men's all-around gymnastics competition in Athens. He now officially becomes the first American male to win an all-around gold medal.
Hamm was scheduled to make a statement about the CAS decision later Thursday morning in New York.
Hamm won the gold Aug. 18, rallying from 12th place after a stumble in the vault. He closed spectacularly with a pair of 9.837s on the parallel bars and high bar to claim gymnastics' biggest prize.
Yang had argued that a scoring error by Olympic judges deprived him of one-tenth of a point on his parallel bars routine, and that it ultimately cost him the gold medal.
Yang won the bronze medal in the competition, less than .05 behind the 22-year-old Hamm of Waukesha.
At a lengthy CAS hearing in Switzerland on Sept. 27, Hamm and his lawyers said the case was a "field of play" decision not subject to review by CAS. Hamm's lawyers also argued that the Koreans violated International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) rules by failing to file an official protest over the scoring error. The scoring error involved the start value of the gymnast's routine.
Hamm's lawyers and supporters consistently have argued that the Koreans failure to protest should have rendered their complaint to CAS null and void.
The three-member CAS panel ruled that any protest concerning the start value should have been made before the end of the competition. "However, in the present case, the arbitrators found that the protest occurred after the end of the competition and was therefore submitted out of time," a CAS news release said.
"Furthermore, the arbitrators noted that they were not asked to second guess an official but rather to consider the consequences of an admitted error by an official. Although this case was slightly different from previous CAS cases concerning 'field-of-play' decisions, the arbitrators considered that they should nonetheless abstain from correcting the results by reliance of an admitted error," the news release said.
In a statement, the arbitrators said: "An error identified with the benefit of hindsight, whether admitted or not, cannot be a ground for reversing a result of a competition. However, quite apart from the consideration that no one can be certain how the competition in question would have turned out had the official's decision been different, for a Court to change the result would on this basis still involve interfering with a field of play decision. Each sport may have within it a mechanism for utilizing modern technology to ensure a correct decision is made in the first place (e.g. cricket with run-outs) or for immediately subjecting a controversial decision to a process of review (e.g. gymnastics) but the solution for error, either way, lies within the framework of the sport's own rules; it does not license judicial or arbitral interference thereafter. If this represents an extension of the field of play doctrine, we tolerate it with equanimity."
Since the Olympic Games, many of those involved in the gymnastics community have raised the possibility that the sport ought to employ limited video review to minimize scoring mistakes.
Despite their failure to protest immediately, the Koreans did appeal to FIG, which in turn suspended the three judges involved in the case. But FIG said it had no intention of changing the results that gave Hamm the gold, and Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, said he agreed.
After FIG president Bruno Grandi wrote a letter to Hamm suggesting he surrender his medal voluntarily, the Koreans, sensing an opening, turned to CAS.
http://www.gmtoday.com/news/sports/tops
Court rules Paul Hamm
can keep Olympic gold
Paul Hamm can keep his Olympic gold medal.
Sports' highest court rejected a South Korean appeal Thursday, ruling that Hamm, a native of Waukesha, is the rightful champion in the men's all-around gymnastics competition at the Athens Games.
"This is, obviously, a great day for me," Hamm said. "The decision from CAS confirms what I've always felt in my heart, which is that I was champion that night and Olympic gold medalist."
The decision by a three-judge panel from the Court of Arbitration for Sport ends a saga that began more than two months ago when South Korea's Yang Tae-young claimed a scoring error cost him the title.
Yang asked the court to order international gymnastics officials to change the results, and adjust the medal rankings so he would get the gold and Hamm the silver. But the CAS panel dismissed the appeal, leaving Hamm with the gold and Yang with his bronze. Kim Dae-eun of South Korea was the silver medalist.
The verdict is final and cannot be appealed.
"An error identified with the benefit of hindsight, whether admitted or not, cannot be a ground for reversing a result of a competition," the CAS panel said.
Yang could not be reached for comment, but the South Korean Olympic Committee said it accepted the ruling.
"We are sorry about the court's decision but accept it," the Koreans said in a statement. "We are sorry that we could not live up to the expectations of the people who have shown concern and encouraged us."
Hamm won the gold Aug. 18, rallying from 12th place with only two events left to become the first American man to win gymnastics' biggest prize. But two days later, gymnastics officials discovered that Yang had been wrongly docked a tenth of a point on his second-to-last routine, the parallel bars.
Yang ended up with the bronze, 0.049 points behind Hamm. Add that extra 0.100, though, and Yang would have finished on top, 0.051 points ahead of the American.
That, however, assumes everything in the final rotation played out the same way - a big if.
"For a variety of reasons related to the reality of athletic competition and the human psyche, simply changing the parallel bars result would not necessarily ... produce the true outcome," said Jeff Benz, general counsel for the U.S. Olympic Committee.
The International Gymnastics Federation acknowledged the scoring error and suspended three judges. But it said repeatedly it would not change the results because the South Koreans didn't protest until after the meet.
In their ruling, the CAS arbitrators said the Korean protest was submitted too late - and added that CAS was not in a position to correct results even if a mistake were admitted.
"The solution for error, either way, lies within the framework of the sport's own rules" and does not allow for a judge or arbitrator to step in later, the CAS panel said.
Hamm said he was heartened by the decision, not just for his sake, but for athletes in all sports.
"It keeps the integrity of the sport by ending the competition that night," he said. "You need that. People will lose interest if the decision isn't made until a week later."
Or in his case, more than two months later.
"This process has been difficult, and I would have liked not to have to deal with it," Hamm said. "It was something I had to deal with, and I'm just glad that it's over at this point."
The South Koreans continued to press their case in Athens after FIG rejected their appeal, approaching both the USOC and the International Olympic Committee in hopes of getting Yang a gold medal. It brought back memories of the figure skating scandal at the Salt Lake City Games in 2002, when Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier were given duplicate gold medals after a French judge said she had been "pressured" to put a Russian couple ahead of them.
There were no such signs of impropriety in this case, and IOC president Jacques Rogge flatly refused to even consider the idea of giving Yang a gold medal.
But then FIG president Bruno Grandi confused the issue, writing a letter to Hamm and asking him to surrender the gold medal voluntarily. In the letter, Grandi wrote, "The true winner of the all-around competition is Yang Tae-young."
Hamm got the letter after he returned to the United States, and he said it was probably his "toughest time" in the whole episode.
"That's one thing I would really love to have is an apology from FIG," Hamm said. "I thought they handled the situation very poorly."
Indeed, buoyed by Grandi's statement, Yang filed an appeal on the final day of the games with CAS.
A three-judge panel heard Yang's appeal on Sept. 27, six weeks after the men's all-around. Benz argued there was no basis for changing the medals standings because there was no guarantee Yang would have won the gold if not for the scoring error. He also argued that "field of play" decisions - judgment calls by officials during competitions - were not subject to review by CAS.
Though Hamm had to wait another three weeks for the verdict, he and his family were optimistic after the hearing.
"The Koreans did not protest during the meet, that's just not the way you do it," said Hamm's father, Sandy. "It's just not reasonable to ask a court to go in and change medals based on what might have happened."
Hamm said he learned of the court's decision when he woke up around 6:15 a.m. EDT Thursday and found a message from his agent, Sheryl Shade. He called his girlfriend to tell her the news, then spent the next few hours in a whirlwind of meetings with attorneys and advisers.
Close by the whole time was his gold medal, a medal he now knows he can keep for the rest of his life. He'd left it at his boyhood home in Waukesha, Wis., for safekeeping while the controversy was brewing - not wanting to risk damaging it just in case he had to give it back.
"It feels like it's mine now. If I were to damage it in any way, it wouldn't be going to anyone else. If I ruin it, it's mine to ruin," he said, laughing. "Now I'll be able to put it in a safe place and leave it there."
The tug-of-war over the medal overshadowed Hamm's performance, one of the greatest comebacks in gymnastics history.
The defending world champion appeared to lose a chance at any medal, let alone the gold, when he botched the landing of his vault and stumbled backward, plopping down on a judges' table. His score of 9.137 dropped him to 12th place with only two events left.
But one by one, the gymnasts above him faltered. And Hamm was spectacular, closing with a pair of 9.837s on the parallel bars and high bar to win the gold.
"There's been a lot of fighting for this medal," Hamm said. "I think it'll mean that much more, that I'll be able to keep it for the rest of my life."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nation
Court rules Paul Hamm can keep olympic gold
By George Diaz
Orlando Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted October 21 2004, 1:15 PM EDT
Paul Hamm can do what he wants with it now. Dangle it around his neck, stick it in a sock drawer, or wave it as a cathartic release of all of the frustration that has festered for two months.
The Olympic gold medal belongs to him and no one else.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport removed the controversial asterisk this morning when it rejected an appeal from South Korea arguing that Yang Tae-young was the winner of the all-around competition at the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
It ends a two-month ordeal for Hamm, whose dramatic victory in rallying to win a medal had been tainted by the legal scrum to keep it.
"It feels like it's mine now, " Hamm said in a conference call this morning, "and if I were to damage it any way it wouldn't be going to anyone else."
Hamm heard the news around 6:15 a.m. when his agent, Sheryl Shade, left a message for him. He called his girlfriend, then started preparing for a press conference in the New York office of his legal representatives, Kelly Crabb and Max Olson of law firm Morrison & Foerster.
He had read 13 pages of the 44-page document released by CAS in its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, but the essential information was enough to make it a day worth celebrating.
A three-judge panel from the highest court in sports had rejected Yang's claim that a scoring title cost him the all-around title.
"The solution for error, either way, lies within the framework of the sport's own rules" and does not allow for a judge or arbitrator to step in later," the CAS panel said.
Hamm, 21, won the first all-around gold medal in U.S. history on Aug. 18, rallying after an awful landing on the vault that had dropped him to 12th place.
Hamm edged South Korea's Kim Dae-eun on the final event, but the Koreans filed a protest with the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), arguing the scoring of Yang Tae-young's parallel bars routine. A revised start value would have given Yang the gold medal, dropping Hamm to silver.
Although FIG acknowledged a scoring mistake and suspended three judges, it did not change the results, promoting an appeal with CAS.
"I think it will be more special," Hamm said of his medal. "There's been a lot of fight for this medal. I felt like I've won it three times already, first in the competition, then the media, and then the court."
The celebratory toasts -- as well as significant endorsement opportunities -- were put on pause during Hamm's legal limbo. Wheaties decided to drop him as a cover boy for its boxes of cereal, and discussions of a book deal were delayed until there was resolution.
"We don't look at it as lost," Shade said. "We've just been keeping everything on hold."
After he arrived home to Waukesha, Wis. from Athens, Hamm opened a letter from then FIG president Bruno Grandi asking him to surrender the gold medal voluntarily. "The true winner of the all-around competition is Yang Tae-Young," he wrote.
There were adversarial issues closer to home, involving the deteriorating relationship between Hamm and USA Gymnastics, which Hamm said failed to adequately support him during the process. The relationship soured further when Hamm participated in a post-Olympics tour not sanctioned by USA Gymnastics.
As he looks for closure, Hamm would like a letter of apology from FIG and a clearing of issues with the national governing body, but, mostly, this is now a time to move forward with clarity and closure.
"This is obviously a great day for me," Hamm said. "I want to thank many people who stood by me. The decision from CAS confirms what I've always felt in my heart, which is that I was champion that night and Olympic gold medalist. I will put this behind me and move on."
http://www.gmtoday.com/news/local_stori
The true champion
Court: Hamm can keep gold medal
----------------------------------------
By BRANDON LORENZ - GM Today Staff
& Associated Press
WAUKESHA -
Two months of drama ended this morning for Paul Hamm with a phone call from his agent telling him he can keep his gold medal.
The 6:15 a.m. phone call told Hamm that the Court for Arbitration for Sport - the highest court for sport - had ruled in favor of Hamm over South Korean gymnast Yang Tae-young.
Speaking to reporters from New York, Hamm thanked his family, attorney and the U.S. Olympic Committee for their support during the controversy.
"There has been a lot of fighting for this medal," said Hamm, the men’s all-around gymnastics champion. "I feel like I have won it three times already, in the competition, with the media and with the court."
Family welcomes decision
Friends and family members said they were pleased by the decision.
"That’s great news. The court definitely made the right decision based on the rules in gymnastics and it goes beyond the rules to Paul’s performance that night," said Hamm’s former coach, Stacy Maloney. "They have ruled on the side of the true champion."
Maloney, 46, coaches at Swiss Turner Gymnastics in West Allis. He coached Hamm from 1992 until the fall of 2003.
"I expected them to rule in favor of Paul, but you never know," Maloney said. "The makeup of the court is a little diverse and unusual. You just never know."
Hamm’s father, Sandy, agreed.
"We kind of felt like Paul did," Sandy Hamm said from his home in the town of Waukesha. "After the hearing we were very confident of this decision."
The decision
The 44-page decision by a three-judge panel from the CAS ends a saga that began more than two months ago when South Korea’s Yang Tae-young claimed a scoring error cost him the gold medal in the Athens Olympics. Yang finished with the bronze medal.
Yang asked the court to order international gymnastics officials to change the results, and adjust the medal rankings so he would get the gold and Hamm the silver. But the CAS panel dismissed the appeal, leaving Hamm with the gold and Yang with his bronze. Kim Dae-eun of South Korea was the silver medalist.
The verdict is final and cannot be appealed.
‘‘An error identified with the benefit of hindsight, whether admitted or not, cannot be a ground for reversing a result of a competition,’’ the CAS panel said.
Hamm won the gold Aug. 18, rallying from 12th place with only two events left to become the first American man to win gymnastics’ biggest prize.
But two days later, gymnastics officials discovered that Yang had been wrongly docked a tenth of a point on his second-to-last routine, the parallel bars. Yang ended up with the bronze, 0.049 points behind Hamm. Add that extra 0.100, though, and Yang would have finished on top, 0.051 points ahead of Hamm.
That, however, assumes everything in the final rotation played out the same way - a big if.
The field of play
On Sept. 27, six weeks after the men’s all-around, a three-judge panel heard Yang’s appeal at CAS’s headquarters. During the hearing, USOC attorney Jeff Benz argued there was no guarantee Yang would have won the gold if not for the scoring error. There was still one event left, and there’s no way to guarantee everything would have turned out the same.
Benz also argued that ‘‘field of play’’ decisions - judgment calls by officials during competitions - were not subject to review by CAS.
The future
Sandy Hamm said well-wishers have already begun sending the family congratulatory e-mails. The family won’t have a chance to speak to Hamm until tonight, but they are thinking of holding a small family celebration after the decision, Sandy Hamm said.
Hamm said he is considering competition in England this winter. His lawyer, Kelly Crabb, said Hamm has been approached about writing a book on his experience - an offer he is considering.
Hamm said the controversy has not dampened his outlook on future competitions.
"It hasn’t really soured my outlook on gymnastics," Hamm said. "I love the sport and want to continue."
Maloney said Hamm would likely use the controversy to fuel him down the road.
"He definitely won the medal that night. Based on the rules he won," Maloney said. "But I’m sure in the back of his mind, this will never be a satisfying experience because some people will think the South Korean won. That type of situation can drive you."
Brandon Lorenz can be reached at blorenz@conleynet.com.
From: http://www.sportsfeatures.com/PressPoin
U S Olympic Committee
CAS Decision Regarding Gymnastics Appeal
PRESS RELEASE
Olympic Games 2004 - Gymnastics
The appeal filed by Yang Tae Young dismissed by the court of arbitration for sport (cas)
The rankings in the men's all-around individual event confirmed
Lausanne, 21 October 2004 - The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rendered its decision in the case Yang Tae Young v/ International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). The dispute involved other parties, such as the US gymnast Paul Hamm, and was related to a marking error made on 18 August 2004 in respect to the parallel bars in the context of the men's individual gymnastics artistic all-around event final. The start value for Yang at that apparatus was given as 9.9 instead of 10. It was asserted by Yang and originally accepted by FIG that but for the error, Yang would have received the gold medal and not the bronze, and the recipient of the gold medal, Paul Hamm, the silver medal.
Yang Tae Young, supported by his National Olympic Committee, filed an appeal with CAS on 28 August 2004. This appeal was submitted to a Panel composed of three CAS arbitrators : Mr Michael J. Beloff, Q.C. from United Kingdom (President), Mr Dirk-Reiner Martens from Germany and Mr Sharad Rao from Kenya (arbitrators). A hearing took place in Lausanne on 27 September 2004 in the presence of the parties, their representatives and their witnesses.
The CAS Panel has decided to dismiss the appeal filed by Yang Tae Young, which means that the ranking of the men's individual gymnastics all-around event remains unchanged and that the medals already allocated to Paul Hamm (gold), Kim Dae-Eun (silver) and Yang Tae Young (bronze) remain in possession of their owners.
The Panel had to resolve the two following main issues :
1) Whether a protest concerning the controversial start value had been duly made by the Korean delegation before the end of the competition;
2) Whether the Judges' error, publicly recognised by FIG, can justify a re-evaluation of the scores after the end of the competition.
The CAS arbitrators considered that any protest concerning the start value should be made before the end of the competition in order to be effective, in accordance with the FIG rules. However, in the present case, the arbitrators found that the protest occurred after the end of the competition and was therefore submitted out of time.
Furthermore, the arbitrators noted that they were not asked to second guess an official but rather to consider the consequences of an admitted error by an official. Although this case was slightly different from previous CAS cases concerning "field-of-play" decisions, the arbitrators considered that they should nonetheless abstain from correcting the results by reliance of an admitted error.
In the award, the arbitrators have stated : "An error identified with the benefit of hindsight, whether admitted or not, cannot be a ground for reversing a result of a competition. (…) However, quite apart from the consideration that no one can be certain how the competition in question would have turned out had the official's decision been different, for a Court to change the result would on this basis still involve interfering with a field of play decision. Each sport may have within it a mechanism for utilising modern technology to ensure a correct decision is made in the first place (e.g. cricket with run-outs) or for immediately subjecting a controversial decision to a process of review (e.g. gymnastics;) but the solution for error, either way, lies within the framework of the sport's own rules; it does not licence judicial or arbitral interference thereafter. If this represents an extension of the field of play doctrine, we tolerate it with equanimity."
The CAS Panel has also praised the attitude of both athletes Yang and Hamm who have comported themselves with dignity, despite the controversy. They were the victims of this unusual case because a shadow of doubts has been cast over Hamm's achievement in winning the sport's most prestigious prize and because Yang may have been deprived of an opportunity of winning it.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6108155/
Click on "launch" to see a four minute MSNBC interview with Paul and attorney Kelly Crabb.
Since Paul is going to be making the rounds of TV shows on Thursday, I thought it'd be good to start a thread where we can list which ones as we become aware of them.
First to add to the list:
"Dennis Miller Show" on CNBC at 9 p.m. (eastern time)http://moneycentral.msn.com/Conten
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtm
LAUSANNE (Reuters) - American gymnast Paul Hamm will keep his Olympic all-round gold medal after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected Thursday an appeal from South Korea's Yang Tae-young.
"The Court of Arbitration has decided to dismiss the appeal," a court spokesman told reporters. "This means that the ranking of the men's individual gymnastics all-round event remains the same."
Hamm became the first American man to win the Games all-round title in Athens on August 18 but just three days later it transpired he had been awarded the title due to a scoring error.
The governing body of gymnastics (FIG) ruled bronze medallist Yang should have been awarded the gold as he was incorrectly docked a 10th of a point from his parallel bars routine but refused to redistribute the medals.
At a hearing at Lausanne headquarters last month, CAS upheld the original result.