BEIJING — Morgan Hamm’s eyes were red, his voice shaky.
The bone spurs digging into his left leg made it impossible for him to tumble, and giving up his spot on the U.S. men’s gymnastics team was the right thing to do — the only thing to do. That didn’t make it hurt any less.
Hamm withdrew Thursday, two days before competition begins. He aggravated a chronic injury in his left ankle during training in Beijing, and it never responded to treatment. He clearly struggled on the floor exercise during the men’s training session Wednesday, and it wasn’t any better Thursday.
“This has been an extremely hard decision for me to make. I’ve given everything I can to be ready to compete at this Olympic Games,” Hamm said. “It’s best for me to step down and have another athlete fill my position. This is something for me that’s very tough because it’s the end of my career, and it’s not the way I had planned it.”
Nothing about these Olympics has gone the way Hamm and his twin brother, Paul, planned it.
Paul Hamm, the reigning Olympic champion, had to withdraw July 28 because he wasn’t going to be healthy enough to compete in Beijing. Besides persistent pain from the right hand he broke two months ago, he has a strained left rotator cuff.
Morgan Hamm tore a muscle in his chest in early October, an injury that required a five-month rehab. He was able to return, but the injured ankle continued to give him trouble. Bone spurs from his ankle dig into his tibia, producing “extreme” pain.
Hamm tried taping, ultrasound and other therapies to treat the injury. When those didn’t work, his doctor gave him an injection of a glucocorticosteroid, a cortisone-like anti-inflammatory, on May 2 in hopes of reducing the swelling and inflammation. That resulted in a positive doping test at nationals; the drug is allowed if an athlete gets a therapeutic use exemption, which he failed to do. Hamm had to have another cortisone shot before he left for Beijing, and yet another Wednesday.
“I wouldn’t change anything,” Morgan Hamm said. “I gave it all that I had. … Obviously it hasn’t worked out as I wanted it to, but I love gymnastics, I love competing, and I’m going to take all of my experiences that I’ve had and grow as person and move on with my life after this.”
The Hamms’ withdrawals mean the Americans, once considered favorites to return to the medals podium, now have no one with Olympic experience. Sasha Artemev, the 2006 national champion and world bronze medalist on pommel horse, will replace Morgan Hamm. He was chosen Thursday night over David Durante. Both have been training at the U.S. Olympic Committee’s facility at Beijing Normal.
It also leaves the Americans with a huge hole on pommel horse, already their weakest spot. Artemev is the Americans’ best on the event, but has problems with consistency.
“Morgan Hamm is an irreplaceable athlete, an incredible gymnast,” said Jonathan Horton, who was fourth at the world championships last year. “The expectations stay the same. The vision doesn’t change at all. We still feel we’re medal contenders.”
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