Hamm is training five of his six events, including doing a full routine on pommel horse, coach Miles Avery said Friday. Hamm isn't vaulting yet as a precautionary measure, but likely will start next week
- just in time for the July 19 training camp where he must show he is physically able to compete at the Beijing Olympics.
"It's a lot of fun," Avery said. "Obviously, it relieves some of that stress of,
'Are we going to get this done?' ... He does have a little pain in it, but he continues icing and doing the things you need to do to keep it under control.
"So far, so good."
Hamm broke the fourth metacarpal in his right hand May 22 in the final seconds of his parallel bars routine at the national championships. Five days later, hand specialist Dr. Lawrence Lubbers repaired the break with a titanium plate and nine small screws.
The men's competition in Beijing begins Aug. 9, giving Hamm a very tight timetable for his recovery. He was off gymnastics equipment for six weeks, though he spent three hours each day doing strength and conditioning exercises to maintain his fitness level.
On July 3, Lubbers cleared Hamm to resume full training after X-rays showed the break had healed enough to withstand the force of gymnastics.
"I thought, 'Wow, we're getting awfully close,'" Avery said. "Once he was released to do gymnastics and he himself found out
'I can really do stuff,' - the first day we did a little horse, did some parallel bars
- it was certainly a big relief.
"Before that? Yeah, I was a little concerned."
Hamm was tentative at first on some skills - in a video on his Web site, he appears to favor his hand the first time he does floor exercise
- but Avery said he's gaining confidence every day. It helps that Lubbers stops in the gym frequently to check the gymnast's progress.
"He said, 'I did a great job, it's not going to break. Have at it,'" Avery said. "It does help with that confidence."
Hamm isn't doing his release moves on high bar yet or some of the twisting skills on parallel bars that would put excessive force on the hand. Lubbers also has Hamm doing drills instead of full vaults because he wanted to give the hand more time to heal before Hamm starts slamming it on the vaulting table.
