Two golds offered as solution
By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer
The verdict is in — at least from several of the Korean judges in Hawai'i: Give gold medals to both the Korean and American gymnasts.
Associated Press
The international controversy over the awarding of the all-around gold medal in men's gymnastics has generated a fair amount of chatter throughout the Korean community in the Islands, according to spokesmen for some O'ahu-based Korean sports leagues and media companies.
Paul Hamm of the United States won the men's gymnastics gold after Tae-young Yang of Korea was mistakenly docked 0.1 point.
On Wednesday, Paul Hamm of the United States was awarded a gold, before Olympic officials discovered a scoring error had kept the medal from Tae-young Yang of the Republic of Korea.
South Korean officials yesterday said they would file an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which hears certain disputes stemming from Olympic sports. U.S. officials, meanwhile, said they would consider supporting a bid for a duplicate gold medal.
It's not the first time Olympic gold has generated unhappiness among South Korean fans. Two years ago during the winter games, skater Dong-sung Kim lost a gold medal when he was disqualified for hindering American Apolo Anton Ohno in the men's 1,500-meter short-track skating competition.
In the current controversy, Honolulu attorney Amanda Chang thinks a "correction" is necessary so the medal goes to the deserving athlete.
"Once the error has been discovered, we need to correct the score and give it to the person who deserves it," Chang said. "If (Hamm) keeps the medal, it's to me a sympathy medal. Is that something that the American really wants?"
Most of those interviewed, however, thought it best to award a gold to both Hamm and Yang. That conclusion is also being floated by those answering phones for the Korean media here — KBFD-TV, KREA-AM Radio and the Korea Times.
"I've talked about it with several people who've said they feel the Korean athlete should get the gold," said Jeff Chung, KBFD general manager. "Their opinion on Paul Hamm, they're not concerned with that. They don't say they want him to give up his medal. They just say, 'Mr. Yang should have gold.' "
Yong-woo Kim, a reporter for KREA and the Times, and KREA radio host Mark Shim said they'd also heard calls for duplicate medals.
Shim added that he'd read anti-U.S. posts on the Internet, but that locally the fans feel tugs of loyalty to both the American and Korean Olympic teams.
"We like to have our Korean player have the gold medal, but we don't want to make this political or an anti-U.S.A.-type event," Shim said. "We're cheering for both countries, and those countries are having a problem now. They'd like to get both of them happy. They'd like a happy ending."
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Reach Vicki Viotti at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8053.
