Failure

What a deceptive headline AND lead. Not until the fifth paragraph do we learn that the boos were not for Paul Hamm, in the midst of controversy over his all-around gold, but for the poor score the judges gave four-time gold medalist Alexei Nemov, who preceded Hamm. That's a horrible bit of misleading the reader, stirring up controversy where none exists. Isn't the truth enough in this case?

And as for the South Koreans, they don't deserve to get any gold medal for the all-around at this point. Yes, their gymnast was scored wrong on the high bar. But you know what? Gymnastics has rules about protesting scoring errors. Had anyone bothered to check the scoreboard and make a protest before the competition ended, the South Korean team could have rectified the mistake and given their gymnast the score he deserved and, possibly, the gold medal. But someone (presumably, the team coach) was not on the job, and it's not at all sportsmanlike to try to change the rules you agreed to going in to get the gold for yourself. The judges may have made an error, but the team did, too. And lest we forget, dozens of other gymnasts left the competition with squat -- not a bronze medal, even one that appeared to disgust its winner even the night of.

Paul Hamm Waits Out Boos Then Wins Silver