Injury might force Hamm out of nationals

[May 23, 2008]  HOUSTON (AP) -- Paul Hamm's stay at the top of the U.S. gymnastics championships might be a short one.

Hamm said he might not compete Saturday after injuring his right hand in the last few seconds of his parallel bars routine, his final event of the night Thursday. As Hamm was flipping to do work on one bar, his right fingers caught on the rail and were jammed to the side. He fell off, and immediately grabbed his wrist as he grimaced.

"I heard a small popping sound in the joint," said Hamm, who left the arena with his right arm wrapped and will have X-rays Friday morning. "This is not something that will make me sit out of the Olympics, but it might make me sit for Saturday. If it's something very little, I'll compete Saturday. If I think it is something worse, I'll hold off until trials.

"I will not beat up my body and cause more damage just to get to the trials."

The Olympic trials are June 19-22 in Philadelphia, and Hamm is considered the only lock to make the team -- even if he's not at trials.

Even with the injury, the defending Olympic champion had a commanding lead on his fellow Americans. His score of 93.450 was more than three points ahead of Joseph Hagerty, who had 89.750. Hamm had the highest score on three events, and third-best score on another.

"He was on fire today," said Jonathan Horton, who was fourth at last year's world championships. "He was killing it. It's Paul. He's a machine."

But he's not indestructible.

Only a few gymnasts made it through the night without a fall or major deduction of some sort, and Hamm was seconds away from leading that group. But his fingers got jammed in a "stupid accident."

"I missed catching with my hand -- it's a skill that's a little more than I am used to," Hamm said.

Hamm gripped his right wrist as he talked with coach Miles Avery. But he got back up on the bars and finished the last few seconds of his routine. His face was grim as he walked away from the bars, and twin brother Morgan jumped up on the podium to see if he was OK.

He spent several minutes talking with USA Gymnastics medical officials before two big ice packs were put on his hand. He smiled at one point as he sat with his brother and watched the last few routines, but he was subdued when he was talking with reporters.

"It hurts. It hurts right now because we don't know what it is," Avery said. "You're always more concerned when you don't know what something is."

Before the injury, though, Avery said Hamm was as good as he's seen him.

"Amazing," Avery said. "He was amazing to watch. Everything he did, all the little things he's done to improve, he was showing."

Hamm leading nationals is never a surprise. He won three straight U.S. titles from 2002 to 2004, and is the only American man to win the world (2003) and Olympic all-around (2004) titles. He's been in three other meets this year, and won each by two points or more.

But he took 2 1/2 years off after the Athens Olympics, a layoff almost unheard of in the sport. It takes thousands of repetitions to perfect Olympic-level skills, and a gymnast can't just work himself back into shape in a few weeks. Or even a few months.

Hamm, though, is one of a kind. His athletic ability is spectacular. He soars high above the floor on his tumbling passes and vault, and his muscles barely ripple as he pushes himself into handstands on still rings and parallel bars -- gut-busting events that would make ordinary folks scream in pain.

What really sets him apart, though, is his style. He performs with a polish and presence that few others in the world have. His form and body lines are so good, even the hardest skills look simple. Take pommel horse. It's a tough event for most gymnasts, a test of strength and endurance, and even some of the best appear to labor through their routines. Not Hamm. His routine has such flow and rhythm, it seems to be over as soon as it starts.

And then there's his mental strength. He's intense from the moment he walks onto the floor for warm-ups. Oh, he'll clap his hands after a good routine or slap hands with his brother or Avery. But he's as fierce a competitor as Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods.

Which is what made his fall on parallel bars so shocking.

"Those things happen. It's frustrating at this point. That routine was going well, the meet was great, it was going to be a perfect finish," Hamm said, shrugging.

Hamm's injury put a damper on a night of impressive comebacks. And an aborted one.

Seven months after tearing a muscle in his chest, Morgan Hamm showed he can again be a factor at the Olympics. In his first full competition since the Athens Games, Morgan Hamm was in the top 10 in all four events he did. He tied his brother for first place on floor, and also had the highest score on vault.

"People have to see my gymnastics as a work in progress," Hamm said.

Justin Spring, who blew out his knee at the national championships last August and has been nursing a sprained ankle, was third on parallel bars and fifth on high bar -- and that was with a "pretty bad" routine.

Five-time U.S. champion Blaine Wilson's comeback, meanwhile, is over. Wilson, who was trying to make his fourth Olympic team at 33 and after a three-year layoff, withdrew after two events and said he is retiring.

"Hey, I tried," Wilson told The Associated Press. "You're never going to know unless you do it. I can live with it."

[Associated Press; By NANCY ARMOUR]

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