The Games of the XXVIII Olympiad are rapidly becoming the Games of the XXVIII Hissy Fits. It seems that bitterness is everywhere: historic gymnastics performances tainted by arguments over erroneous start values; record-breaking swims marred by accusations of illegal underwater kicks; down-to-the-wire fencing matches followed by questioning about who really stabbed whom first. Even the genteel sport of equestrian featured delegations squabbling over the number of times a horse crossed a start line.

There have been subsequent protests to expel judges, arguments to award two gold medals in one event – and just yesterday, a plea to get a fourth-place finisher upgraded to bronze in the men’s vault competition. Some athletes will find any reason to bicker: One cyclist flashed an obscene gesture at the finish line of the road race because she wasn’t happy with her nation’s team selection.

The loudest cries, of course, have been coming from gymnastics, traditionally not one of the most acrimonious of Olympic sports. First, Korean officials filed a protest after a mid-competition score revealed that their gymnast, and not American Paul Hamm, should have been awarded the gold medal. The Koreans had a legitimate point, but the ensuing debate has tarnished the amazing comeback performance Hamm produced less than a week ago.

Worse was the pouting from six-time Russian Olympic medalist Svetlana Khorkina after another American, Carly Patterson, won gold in the women’s all-around. The unsmiling and self-annointed “Queen of Gymnastics,” Khorkina took the silver medal in the all-around, which she saw as evidence of being “fleeced” by partisan judges.

Taken together, the protests called into question the legitimacy of gymnastics. Now fans are getting into the act with protests of their own.

During last night’s high bar final, the crowd expressed its outrage after Russia’s Aleksei Nemov received a low score for a seemingly smooth routine. Not only did the whistling and booing delay the competition, but then, in a rare move, the judges changed their scores. Nemov later thanked the crowd for his .037 upgrade (which boosted him to fifth place), explaining with a wink that “everyone should have understood by now that you cannot fool the fans.”

Earlier, the Canadian team launched an inquiry into the men’s vault, claiming that Romania’s Marian Dragulescu should not have been awarded the bronze after he fell with two hands on the floor on his second landing. The Canadians claimed that Dragulescu’s score of 9.325 was “mathematically impossible,” and were hoping to get a bronze for Kyle Shewfelt, ranked fourth. The chairman of the men’s technical committee – a Romanian, incidentally – refused to look at the complaint.

Perhaps the International Olympic Committee ought to consider adding a 302nd event to the 2008 program for Beijing: debate. And why not? At the ancient Panhellenic festivals (a precursor to the Olympics) olive wreaths were awarded for oratory.

In recent times, some Olympic protests have been successful – Canadian synchronized swimmer Sylvie Frechette and American ski jumper Anders Haugen received medals after scoring errors were discovered. Boxer Roy Jones, on the other hand, was denied the 1988 gold medal by a scoring decision so blatantly wrong that the winner apologized in the ring and electronic scoring was adopted soon after.

The difference between these Games and others is the sheer volume of the outcries. For that, it is impossible to deny the Salt Lake effect. In an era of 24-hour news cycles, seldom has a scoring controversy received so much constant press as it did for Jamie Sale and David Pelletier in 2002.

The irony is that the Canadian skaters graciously accept their silver medal. The protests were initially generated by the press, not the athletes. Now in Athens, the protests are coming from within the sports and the sour grapes seem like little more than an easy way for losers to generate headlines.

Apparently, Yogi Berra was wrong when he said, “It ain’t over ’till it’s over.” In Athens, it ain’t over ’till you file a protest.