The International Gymnastics Federation has suspended three judges for errors that might have helped American Paul Hamm win the Olympic all-around gold medal last year in Athens.

Judges George Beckstead of the United States and Benjamin Bango of Spain were suspended until the end of the year.  Oscar Buitrago Reyes of Colombia was suspended until August.

The trio incorrectly docked South Korean gymnast Yang Tae-young one tenth of a point for his routine on the parallel bars.  The Korean finished with the bronze medal after Hamm staged a dramatic comeback from a fall in the vault.

The extra one-tenth of a point would have given Yang the gold and Hamm the silver.  Yang appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but his appeal was rejected.

Also Friday, the gymnastics body banned Chinese official Xiao Guanglai and three judges for errors made in the men's vault final in Athens.  Canadian officials had accused judges of over-scoring Romanian bronze medalist Marian Dragulescu's performance, which knocked Canada's Kyle Shewfelt out of the medals.

Some information for this report provided by AP.