SOUTH KOREA: GYMNASTICS: South Korean gymnast Yang Tae-young ready to win in Beijing after he lost Athens gold medal due to judging error

Record ID: 329562

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: GYMNASTICS: South Korean gymnast Yang Tae-young ready to win in Beijing after he lost Athens gold medal due to judging error
  • Date: 23rd July 2008
  • Summary: (S3) SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (RECENT) (REUTERS) GYMNAST YANG TAE-YOUNG PRACTICING ON THE RINGS YANG ON PARALLEL BARS OTHER GYMNASTS TRAINING YANG ON VAULT (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) SOUTH KOREAN GYMNAST YANG TAE-YOUNG, SAYING: "Whether I'll be competing with Paul Hamm or not at the Olympics, I do not really care. There are other gymnasts who are better than him and I'd like to focus more on them and also on my performance." YANG WORKING OUT ON PRESS BENCH YANG TALKING TO COACHES (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) SOUTH KOREAN GYMNAST YANG TAE-YOUNG SAYING: "Whenever I participate in major tournaments, I get injured or misjudged. But that is just a coincidence. I didn't mean for it to happen, but it just happened. I will not let it happen again and will do my best." YANG ON RINGS YANG WALKING OFF THE MAT VARIOUS OF KIM DAE-EUN PRACTICING ON PARALLEL BARS YANG AND YOO WON-CHUL POSING FOR PICTURES
  • Embargoed: 7th August 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAEA6AKYCELC6TF3YUXYXWL8YIF
  • Story Text: South Korean gymnast Yang Tae-young is more worried about injuries and a challenge from a tough Chinese team than he is about Paul Hamm, the American who beat him for an all-round gold in Athens due to a judging error.
    Yang, 28, was involved in one of the biggest controversies at Athens when the governing body of gymnastics (FIG) ruled the South Korean bronze medallist should have been awarded the gold as he was incorrectly docked a 10th of a point from his parallel bars routine.
    "Whether I'll be competing with him Paul Hamm or not at the Olympics, I do not really care. There are other gymnasts who are better than him and I'd like to focus more on them and also on my performance," Yang said in a joint interview with South Korean media this month.
    Hamm, 25, the first U.S. man to win the Olympic all-round gold, has battled back from a broken right hand to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.
    Before the injury, Hamm had won the all-round title at the Tyson American Cup and the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships.
    Yang was also hit by injuries and had to take a year off after Athens due to problems with his shoulder.
    The man to beat for the all-round gold looks to be neither Yang nor Hamm, but China's Yang Wei, who won the all-round title at the world championships last year in Stuttgart, Germany.
    South Korea's best hope in all-round has been Kim Dae-eun, who finished fifth in Stuttgart. Veteran Yang, probably competing in his last Olympics, is seen as a medal contender in the parallel bars.
    In his recent interview, he said he was the victim of a bit of bad luck.
    "Whenever I participate in major matches, I get injured or misjudged. But that is just a coincidence. I didn't mean for it to happen, but it just happened. I will not let it happen again and do my best," said Yang.
    Yang and the South Korean Olympics committee were not satisfied with the way things turned out in Athens so they filed an appeal with the Court for Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to award him the gold.
    Hamm said he would return the gold if the decision of the Lausanne-based CAS went against him, but the court rejected the South Korean appeal and Hamm kept his medal.
    Yang accepted the decision when it was made a few months after the Athens Games and pledged to win gold in Beijing.
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