Hamm Missing as Wheaties Honors Olympic Winners
Mon Aug 30, 2004 11:20 AM ET
CHICAGO (Reuters) - American gymnast Paul Hamm, who was asked to return his Olympic gold medal in the men's all-around because of a scoring error, may have received another snub.General Mills Inc, the maker of Wheaties cereal, announced on Monday three U.S. Olympic champions will appear on millions of its iconic orange cereal boxes -- but Hamm was not among them.
Traditionally a launching pad for lucrative commercial endorsement deals, Wheaties boxes will feature record-breaking swimmer Michael Phelps, female gymnastics all-around champion Carly Patterson, and the holder of the "world's fastest human" title, 100-meter gold medalist Justin Gatlin.
Am I surprised that Paul Hamm got snubbed? Not really. Personally, I thought he should have given the gold medal back. Granted he did nothing wrong, but clearly the judges made a mistake which unfairly granted him the gold medal. And as such, in the spirit of the Olympic games and in fairness to the other athletes, I think he should have given it back. I’m sure my opinion is in the minority but I really do think it would have been the right thing to do.
Weelllll, here's the problem. After looking at the performance of that South Korean on tape, they discovered flaws that wasn't seen before, and would have given him a lower score. So if they REALLY wanted to be technical about it, they would have given that person an even lower score. At least that's what I've been lead to believe. So in that case, I can see why Paul would not have given his medal back. I also see why Wheaties would not choose him for a box cover...too much controversy.