2nd Hamm will miss Games
BEIJING — Morgan Hamm is joining his brother on the sidelines for the Beijing Olympics.
The American withdrew from the U.S. men's team with a left ankle injury today, two days before competition is to begin. During the U.S. men's training session Wednesday, he appeared to crunch his ankle on an awkward landing on floor and immediately began grimacing. He quickly climbed off the podium to talk to his coach. He went through the rest of the workout, but only did a few more simple moves on floor.
On May 2, his doctor gave him an injection of a glucocorticosteroid, a cortisone-like anti-inflammatory, to treat the sore and swollen left ankle. 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.
He had to have another cortisone shot before he left for Beijing."I have been dealing with this for the last year, and it recently has gotten worse here in Beijing," Hamm said in a statement. "Right now I am unable to perform my tumbling skills at the level that I need to. This has an impact on my ability to contribute to the team's goals, and I believe by continuing I would be putting myself at further risk. "The Americans, once considered favorites to return to the medals podium, now have no one with Olympic experience. A replacement was not immediately announced. Sasha Artemev and David Durante are the remaining two alternates.Hamm's withdrawal comes just one day after he said his twin brother, Paul, was considering coming to Beijing to see him compete. Paul Hamm, the reigning Olympic champion, pulled out of the games July 28, two days before the American team left, because he wouldn't be healthy enough.
