updated 2:41 a.m. ET Sept. 22, 2004

SEOUL, South Korea - The South Korean gymnast who lost the Olympic all-around title to American Paul Hamm after a scoring error is getting the gold medal treatment at home.

Yang Tae-young got a replica gold medal from the Korean Olympic Committee on Wednesday as well as a $20,000 check, the same prize promised to South Korea’s other gold medalists.

“I had a really tough time in Athens because of the controversy. But I got encouragement from many people who sympathized with me,” Yang said. “I am happy and thankful that I receive a gold medal of sorts today.”

Yang, who finished with a bronze, was wrongly docked a tenth of a point on his second-to-last routine, the parallel bars. He finished third in the all-around, 0.049 points behind Hamm, who became the first American man to win gymnastics’ biggest prize. But add the extra 0.100, and Yang would have finished 0.051 points ahead of Hamm.

That, however, assumes everything in the final rotation played out the same way.

The International Gymnastics Federation acknowledged the error and suspended three judges, but has said repeatedly it won’t change the results because the South Koreans didn’t file a protest until after the meet. The International Olympic Committee refused to even consider the idea of giving Yang a gold medal.

But Yang isn’t giving up. He’s appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, asking that the FIG be ordered to correct the results and the medal rankings adjusted so he gets gold and Hamm gets a silver. The case will be heard Monday in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The U.S. Olympic Committee has promised to vigorously defend Hamm.