Paul Hamm Withdraws From Olympics

Paul Hamm, my own personal favorite male gymnast, has had to withdraw from the Olympics after suffering a setback.  I am positively devastated by this news.  Despite enjoying an almost miraculous recovery after breaking a bone in his right hand in May (click here to read my interview with him and his surgeon), he was forced to resign this afternoon after straining his rotator cuff. 

“I’ve put my heart and soul into this comeback,” Hamm said. “I needed to make continuous progress and have no setbacks.  Unfortunately, the week after camp has been a disaster.  I have not been able to do a single full routine since I competed back in May at the U.S. Championships in Houston.”

“Right now there are only five days of training before the podium training in Beijing.  I can see now that it will be impossible for me to be ready.”

One of three alternates, Raj Bhavsar of Houston, has been selected to replace Hamm.

I am really hoping that he isn’t to blame for this.  I know he wanted to be ready but it almost seemed, to me, that he was going full throttle.  His coach, Miles Avery, kind of confirmed my suspicions: “two weeks ago, he was great, he was awesome and did everything he needed to do to be at the Olympics.  But I was saying all along that he needed to rest. But he pushed it.”

Again, I’m really sad over this news since this would have probably been his last Olympics. 

image credit: Newscom