ATHENS – U.S. gymnast Paul Hamm might have to share his gold medal as the all-around champ.

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) held an executive meeting yesterday morning to look into a protest filed by the Korean gymnastics federation.

Hamm – the first U.S. man to win the all-around title – won the gold by .012, the closest margin in the history of the Games. A pair of Korean gymnasts finished second and third.

“In the case that judging errors have occurred, appropriate steps will be made immediately,” according to a statement from FIG.

The Koreans’ protest states that there was a scoring mistake that cost their athletes the gold. Because Hamm already has been presented with the gold, he can’t have it revoked on protest.

The claim involves the starting value assigned to a program. The more difficult the routine, the higher the start value, which is factored into the scoring. Yang Tae-joung, who won the bronze, received a start value of 10 on the parallel bars in preliminary competition, but got a 9.9 in the all-around. Had he gotten the extra tenth of a point, Yang would have beaten Hamm.

“Judges can make mistakes. That’s human,” FIG spokesman Philippe Silacci told The Associated Press. “But it’s like football. They cannot change the score once the game is over.”