Bulgaria appeals ring gold

Bulgaria have appealed the result of the Olympic gymnastics men's rings final, saying their silver medallist Jordan Jovtchev should have the gold given to Greece's Dimosthenis Tampakos, a team spokeswoman said on Monday. "We are waiting for answer today,"

Eurosport

Image credit: TNT Sports

"We gave this note to the international federation last night," Zdravka Jordanova

told Reuters, 12 hours after the extremely tight final.

"The judge's result was not correct," she said, adding that Tampakos, whose narrow victory sparked widespread rejoicing in the Games' host nation, had been credited with too high a egree

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of difficulty for his routine.

"What the Greek did was much easier," Jordanova said.

Tampakos's win gave Greece an Olympic rings champion for the first time since the first modern Games in Athens in 1896 after he edged out Jovtchev, the world champion, by just 0.012 of a point, scoring 9.862 to Jovtchev's 9.850.

Immediately after the contest, Jovtchev sounded resigned: "I did my job, at least I think both of us could have been first. It's over who cares?"

It is the second judging controversy in the gymnastics at Athens. American Paul Hamm was incorrectly awarded the all-round gold medal after an error in the scoring for the routine of bronze medallist Yang Tae-young of South Korea.

The ruling FIG have said they will not alter the result as the South Koreans made their appeal too late.

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