Gymnast Paul Hamm pulls out of Olympics

The Americans likely would have needed him on all six events in both qualifying and team finals. Because the scoring format in team finals is so unforgiving - three athletes compete on each event and all three scores count - Hamm didn't want to hurt the Americans if he wasn't fully ready to go.

Hamm did talk with USA Gymnastics officials about going to Beijing and only doing a few events. But that isn't realistic or fair, he said, especially considering rings is one of the events the Americans would have needed him on.

"This has been the hardest decision I've ever had to make,'' he said. "But I have too much respect for the Olympics and my team to continue on when I know the best thing for everyone is for me to step aside.''

Spectacular comeback
Hamm's withdrawal likely ends the career of one of, if not the best gymnasts the United States has ever had. In addition to his world and Olympic titles, he led the Americans to a silver medal in Athens, their first at the Olympics in 20 years.

His comeback in Athens was one of the most spectacular ever in the sport. After a fall on vault dropped him to 12th place with only two events left, he rallied with two of the best routines of his career to win the gold.

Two days later, however, the International Gymnastics Federation said that bronze medalist Yang Tae-young of South Korea had been wrongly docked a tenth of a point on his second-to-last event.

Add that extra tenth, and Yang would have scored higher than Hamm. That assumes, though, that everything in the final rotation would have played out the same, something nobody can say for sure.

The Koreans did not protest in time, and the FIG said it couldn't change results after the competition. But the Koreans took the matter all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, forcing Hamm to defend his gold medal. CAS eventually declared Hamm the rightful champion.

A long break
Despite taking 2 1/2 years off after Athens - an unprecedented layoff in the sport - Hamm had firmly established himself as a contender for another gold, winning every meet he entered this year, often by large margins. Even with his injury, he still finished the first night of nationals almost four points ahead.

"Enough cannot be said about the effort Paul has made over the last few months and the contributions he has already made,'' said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. "His decision is being made with the team's best interests in mind. It's a shame that it's happening right now, and one of the world's best gymnasts will not be able to compete at this summer's Olympic Games.''

Hamm, a three-time U.S. champion, also was the cornerstone of silver medal teams at the 2001 and 2003 world championships. He has five medals from the world championships, and three from the Olympic Games.

He had said he planned to retire after Beijing, and said Monday that is still his intention. He graduated from Ohio State last year with a degree in accounting and plans to go to business school.

"Of course right now it's a difficult moment for me,'' he said. "The truth of the matter is, I've had a wonderful career. The success that I've had in the sport has been more than I ever dreamed of, and I'm more than happy with the way things have turned out.''

Except for the ending.

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