BEIJING BOUND: Paul Hamm gets green light

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"It's been a wild ride for me every since my comeback into thesport," Hamm said. "I'm just happy right now to be able to competeat this level."
It was a typically classy effort from America's best gymnast,though not exactly a stroll. Hamm grimaced and grunted his waythrough his rings routine and nearly fell during his high barlanding — signs that he needs the next three weeks to get incompetitive shape.
But nobody expected perfection.
What they wanted to make sure of was that the hand had healedsufficiently, that his routines were rounding into form and thatthe spot awarded him after he petitioned his way through nationalsand Olympic trials should still be his.
Answers: Yes, yes and yes.
"He's a very experienced athlete, a very intelligent athlete and avery calculating athlete," said men's program director DennisMcIntyre. "From an emotional standpoint, it's exciting to see howfar he's come. We have no doubt he'll do what he needs to do to beready."
The Americans go through team qualifying in Beijing on Aug. 9— three weeks from Saturday. Hamm said he has enjoyed almostexponential improvement since he returned to training in full abouttwo weeks ago. Everyone who has been watching him agrees.
"For him, it was about making the team today," said Paul's twinbrother, Morgan. "He had extra pressure put on him today. ... Butwe just say, 'Go do gymnastics.' He knows when he gets in thesesituations, his body goes on automatic pilot and Paul Hamm comesout."
The selection committee mainly wanted to see Hamm go on rings, highbar and pommel horse, but he did portions of all six events,including the parallel bars, which is where he broke his right ringfinger in the closing seconds of his routine at nationals.
Quick and successful surgery ensued — a titanium plate andnine small screws repaired the break — and Hamm is adding newportions to his routines almost daily.
When he finished his floor routine, the second-to-last event of theday, he pumped his fist and smiled, knowing he had basicallyaccomplished his goal, which was making the team.
At this rate, it's totally conceivable he'll be on the level ofYang Wei of China, Fabian Hambuechen of Germany and Hiroyuki Tomitaof Japan — three top gymnasts who figure to make the biggestruns at taking his all-around title.
"In my opinion, he's the cleanest gymnast, he's got the form andthe skills. He's the one to beat," said Sasha Artemev, an alternateon this year's team who first called Hamm the favorite back inFebruary.
It's one thing for Artemev to say it. It's another for it to comefrom Hamm himself: "I guess Yang Wei should be worried a little,too," he said. "He was probably counting on me being out."
The biggest hurdle for Hamm will be polishing up so-called"underbar" moves on the parallel bars, tricks in which he rotateshis hands while he lifts his body from below the bars. While manygymnasts will ramp things down over the next several days, Hammwill focus heavily on those for the next two weeks, making up fortime he lost after the surgery.
He figures he's at 90% now and has been given assurances that hecan't reinjure the hand. Fighting through the pain will be themajor challenge.
Either way, he'll be back and certainly will help the Americans inthe team competition, where they finished fourth at worlds lastyear without him.
"He amazes me every day," Morgan Hamm said. "If you'd have seen hima week and a half ago in the gym, you wouldn't think he was thesame person today. He's doing things today that, this is his firsttime doing. It doesn't look hard for him. He's a fighter."
Ropes and Mats : Even though he passed on his tough ending combination, MorganHamm's floor exercise was excellent and should put him incontention for a medal. "It's about as well as I can do the stuffwithout the dismount," he said. ... Kevin Tan did only part of hisroutine on rings and sat out the rest of the meet with a mild thumbsprain. "We figured it was better to rest it than test it,"McIntyre said. ... All three alternates — Artemev, DavidDurante and Raj Bhavsar — will go to Beijing. The men'sprogram originally had planned to only bring two. ... The biggestcheer from the crowd of about 1,200 came on Artemev's closingpommel horse routine. It's one of the best in the world, but hisinability to stay on the horse this summer cost him a spot on theteam. "I was just thinking, 'Why couldn't I do this at trials?"'Artemev said. "It (stinks). But I can't turn back time. I'm justgoing to use the experience toward the next four years."