I read today that US Men's Gymnast Paul Hamm will not be going to compete in the Beijing this year due to a hand injury. This news upset many in the sports community, who thought Hamm was essential to a US medal, but my thought was, "Karma's a bitch, ain't she, Paul?"
You may recall that four years ago, American Paul Hamm eked out a gold medal in the Men's All-Around competition, over South Korean Yang Tae Young.
You win some, you lose some, right? A Silver Medal is nothing to sneeze at.
Not this time. Paul Hamm won, despite a vault that landed him on top of the judge's table. Yang Tae Young was originally declared the winner, based on a nerves-of-steel flawless performance, in which he never once landed on the judge's table. Then, remarkably, that decision was revoked and the gold went to Hamm based on a "scoring error" that gave Hamm a .012 advantage over Yang, the closest in Olympic history. The score was later challenged, and found to be another error.
I am the first to admit that I don't know anything about the intricacies of world-class gymnastics scoring. It all looks like Shakespeare and voodoo to me. What I do know is that part of the score is derived from how the gymnast lands, and no extra points are given for taking out a judge along the way from horse to floor.
Even though I'm only half Korean, I, along with the entire nation of South Korea, was outraged by this controversy. Hamm was asked if he would give the medal to Yang in a gesture of good sportsmanship. He refused. As an American, I was embarassed. I am still bitter (can you tell?).
When the decision was announced, I started screaming at my television and started using Korean swear words that I didn't even know I knew. Those words were dredged up from dark recesses of my childhood in which my mom would spew Korean, starting with "Aigo!" and letting go of a litany of exotic, gutteral sounds when she was angry. My brothers and I would back away slowly and whisper, "She's going Korean. Make a run for it!"
"Going Korean" was our code for "Mom's gone off-the-edge crazy and better not bother her now."
The first time I recall ever "going Korean" was in response to the Paul Hamm controversy. I'm so glad that I can watch the Olympics in peace this time.
Yang Tae Young, I hope you go to Beijing and kick some serious Olympic butt. I'll be rooting for you and your Korean teammates.
Don't make me go Korean again.
--Glennia
