Paul Hamm

Lore & Background

Paul Hamm was born September 24, 1982, in Washburn, Wisconsin, to Sandy and Cecily Hamm. His twin brother, Morgan Hamm, is also a gymnast and Olympic medalist. His older sister, Elizabeth (Betsy), is a former member of the USA Gymnastics Senior National Team. He was raised in Waukesha, Wisconsin and attended Waukesha South High School. Hamm is a three-time, consecutive U.S. National all-around champion, winning the titles from 2002 to 2004. In 2003, he became the first American man to win the all-around title at a World Championships. At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Hamm competed alongside his twin brother Morgan Hamm and finished 5th in the team competition and 14th in the individual all-around competition.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Hamm won the silver medal in the team competition and won the gold medal in the all-around. He also nearly won the gold medal on the horizontal bar but was awarded the silver medal after a tiebreaker. In the all-around competition, Hamm took a disastrous fall on the vault in the fourth rotation, nearly falling into the judges' bench. However, numerous faults by the other gymnasts, combined with Hamm's performance on the parallel bars, returned him to fourth place after the fifth rotation. His horizontal bar routine in the final rotation earned a score of 9.837, winning him the gold medal by a margin of .012, the closest in Olympic gymnastics history.

Almost immediately after the competition, Hamm's gold medal was called into doubt due to a scoring issue involving South Korean bronze medalist Yang Tae Young. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) ruled that Yang was incorrectly given a start value of 9.9 instead of 10.0 in the parallel bars event. The FIG suspended three judges but said the results would not be changed. The USOC argued that changing scores after the fact violated competition rules. Yang filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which ruled on October 21, 2004, that the results would remain and Hamm would keep the gold medal.

Reader's Guide

Paul Hamm's significance lies in his historic achievements as the most decorated U.S. male gymnast and the only American man to win both Olympic and World all-around titles. His 2004 Olympic all-around gold, won by the narrowest margin in Olympic gymnastics history, remains a landmark moment. The subsequent controversy over a scoring error involving Yang Tae Young tested the integrity of Olympic judging and led to a CAS ruling that upheld the results. Hamm's career also includes three consecutive U.S. national all-around titles and a World all-around championship. His attempted comeback for the 2008 Olympics ended due to injury. The controversy affected his commercial opportunities, as talks to appear on a Wheaties box were dropped. He was awarded the James E. Sullivan Award for 2004 as the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States. Hamm's legacy is defined by his competitive excellence and the unresolved debate over the fairness of his gold medal.

Did You Know?

• Paul Hamm is one of only two American gymnasts (along with Simone Biles) to win the all-around title at both the Olympics and the World Championships.
• His 2004 Olympic all-around gold medal margin of .012 is the closest in Olympic gymnastics history.
• The FIG sent a letter to Hamm suggesting he return his medal to the Korean gymnast, which the USOC refused to deliver.
• Hamm fractured the fourth metacarpal of his right hand during the 2008 U.S. Championships and later withdrew from the 2008 Olympic team due to persistent pain.