2004 Olympics: Gymnastics

Some in ethics profession believe doing so would benefit the American

10:55 PM CDT on Friday, August 27, 2004

By MICHAEL PRECKER / The Dallas Morning News

So what should Paul Hamm do now?

As international pressure builds on the American gymnast to relinquish his gold medal, he faces the options of hanging on to a tainted crown or making a personal sacrifice to remedy the mistakes of others.

"It's a tough situation for him," said Paul Melia, chief executive of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport in Ottawa. "I don't think he should be placed in that situation, but I guess he has to decide for himself what is the right thing to do."

The International Olympic Committee said it would not award a second gold medal, and Friday, International Gymnastics Federation president Bruno Grandi urged the American to give his gold medal to South Korea's Yang Tae-Young, who was mistakenly given a lower start value.

Such a move, Grandi suggested, "would be recognized as the ultimate demonstration of fair play by the whole world."

Stephen Potts, chairman of the Ethics Resource Council's board of directors, said he reluctantly concluded the federation was right.

"I feel sorry in a way for Paul Hamm, but I think it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him," said Potts, a former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics who has also served on the U.S. Olympic Committee board of directors. "Greatness comes out of these kinds of moments."

Potts said that even though the judges' mistake was not his fault, Hamm might benefit from giving up the gold medal.

"I think he would become a legend in Olympic history," Potts said.

But both men said the process shouldn't stop there.

Once Hamm offered to relinquish the gold, Potts said, "The International Olympic Committee should say that because he was declared the winner that night and to honor his sportsmanship, we'll award a second gold medal."

E-mail mprecker@dallasnews.com