Ohio State Fires Gymnastics Assistant Coach Paul Hamm After Assault Charge
Ohio State University fired assistant gymnastics coach Paul Hamm after his arrest for allegedly hitting a cab driver and not paying his fare.
Hamm, 28, who in 2004 became the first American man to win the all-around gymnastics Olympics gold medal, was arrested around 2 a.m. on Sept. 3 after police found him sitting in a front yard in the Columbus, Ohio, suburb of Upper Arlington. The driver told police that Hamm refused to pay a $23 fare, punched him and damaged a window in his cab.
“After meeting with Coach (Rustam) Sharipov and considering his recommendations, Paul Hamm has been terminated as an assistant coach with the Ohio State men’s gymnastics team, effective immediately,” Gene Smith, Ohio State associate vice president/director of athletics, said in a statement on the school’s website. “We have high standards for our coaching staff, and unfortunately Mr. Hamm failed to meet those standards.”
Hamm, who was hired as an assistant coach June 6, told police he had “maybe eight drinks,” and said that “I’m going to kill you guys” as they handcuffed him, according to a police video.
The firing comes four months after Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel resigned amid allegations that he knew that players -- including his starting quarterback -- were trading or selling uniforms and other memorabilia to the owner of a tattoo parlor and failed to report it to the National Collegiate Athletic Association until the season ended.
Hamm is a two-time Olympian and three-time Olympic medalist. He also claimed a team silver medal and a silver medal on the horizontal bar at the Athens Games, where he became the first American male to win the Olympic gold medal in the all-around.
Gold Medal
Hamm won the gold after a protest from South Korean gymnast Yang Tae Young to the Court of Arbitration of Sport was rejected. Yang said a scoring error by the judges that gave Hamm the lead should have been reversed after the Games.
Hamm won five world-championship medals and was a nine- time U.S. champion.
Hamm, who graduated from Ohio State magna cum laude with a degree in accounting in 2007, was in his first year as a coach with the school.
To contact the reporter on this story: Curtis Eichelberger in Washington at ceichelberge@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net
Rate this Page