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 The rowdy German fans came to the world gymnastics championships looking for a show. Well, Hambuechen sure gave them one.
The German star had the fourth-highest individual score in all of qualifying, helping the home team to a third-place finish Tuesday with 364.350 points. Not only does that guarantee Germany a trip to Beijing next summer, it puts the team in Thursday's finals.
"It was the best day of my life," Hambuechen said.
And if he has another night like this, Germany might just get its first team medal at worlds since winning a bronze in 1991.
Of course, after the show China put on Monday, it sure looks like Germany and everyone else will be tumbling for second. Despite some rough spots here and there, the defending world champions easily led qualifying, finishing a whopping 3.550 points ahead of the closest thing it has to competition, Olympic champion Japan.
After a year's worth of angst, the Americans wound up having no trouble qualifying for Beijing. The reigning Olympic silver medalists were fourth with 364 points, and Jonathan Horton had the ninth-highest all-around score.
"After how bad it felt last year, it's just something that's been in my mind the past year," Kevin Tan said. "You think about it every day and you finally come out here and get it done, it's not only a sigh of relief, but excitement."
Russia, Romania, Spain and South Korea also made the team finals.
Ukraine, the silver medalist in 2000 and winner of the bronze in 1996, finished 13th and will miss the Olympics for the first time since declaring independence in the wake of the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Hambuechen won the bronze medal in last year's all-around, elevating him to rock star status in Germany. He's besieged with autograph requests wherever he goes and when the team did its podium training session last Friday, adults and children alike lined the wall around the competition floor, snapping pictures of him with cameras and cell phones.
That kind of attention might make some athletes uncomfortable. Not Hambuechen. The bigger the spotlight, the brighter he shines.
"It was awesome. I came into the gym and there were 8,000 people cheering for us," he said. "I was very excited."
The Germans were up first on vault, an event that can get a little hairy with too much adrenaline. But even with the fans cheering, whistling and waving flags, Hambuechen was the picture of calm as he stood at the end of the runway.
He sprinted down the runway, cartwheeled onto the springboard and did a back handspring onto the apparatus. He soared high in the air, then did 2 1/2 twisting somersaults before landing with a solid thud into the mat. The crowd erupted in applause again, and Hambuechen smiled, giving a brief fist pump.
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His high bar routine was even more spectacular. Under the new scoring system, one or two release moves are the norm, and routines are seeming more and more as if they're mass produced.
Hambuechen, though, performs as if he's trying to get an audition with the circus. He does four release moves, flying so high above the bar he could throw in another flip or twist. His pirouette skills would make a ballerina jealous. And no one could ever think his routine came out of a cookie cutter.
He was yelling almost as soon as his feet hit the mat and, after a quick salute to the judges, began waving his arms to tell the fans to pump up the volume.
"After my high bar routine," he said, "I just exploded inside."
He exchanged high-fives with his teammates after he climbed down from the podium, then reached over the wall to slap hands with a few more folks. He had every reason to celebrate. His score of 16.025 was more than a half-point ahead of anyone else, a ridiculous margin on a single event. He was the only gymnast with a 7.0 in difficulty, and he earned one of the few marks in the 9s for execution. "I knew I would be in the (high bar) final, but during the final we will start at zero and I will give my best," he said. "Everyone can imagine what I will like to happen. The Japanese and the Chinese are very strong, but I will try to be at least as good as I was today."
On floor exercise, Hambuechen landed his first pass -- a double twisting somersault in a laid-out position
-- with such authority, it sent chalk flying. The latter part of his routine seemed a little rushed, but that's hardly a major flaw.
Hambuechen wasn't quite as impressive on pommel horse and still rings. He started very slowly on pommel horse, looking a bit wobbly until he found his rhythm. Though he muscled through his rings routine, the cables were shaking and his dismount was a bit spotty.
When Germany's final score was posted, showing the team surging past the United States, the crowd began chanting. Hambuechen and his teammates congratulated each other, than saluted their fans.
"We are overwhelmed with our results," Hambuechen said. "It was the best competition we've ever competed. I'm very happy because the results were as I expected them to be."
And do he and his teammates have another night like this in them? A night that would have them showing off new medals to that adoring crowd?
"It would be really important, but it's not necessary," Hambuechen said. "I'm happy we're in the team final now and that we have qualified for the Olympics."
[Associated Press;
by Nancy Armour]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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