Morgan Hamm Resigns from Olympic Team

Morgan Hamm Photo © Nick Laham / Getty Images

Just two days before the start of the men's gymnastics competition in Beijing, Morgan Hamm has withdrawn from the Olympic team due to ankle injury. His brother Paul, the reigning Olympic all-around champion, pulled out of the Games on July 28 because of a hand and shoulder injury.

While a healthy Morgan Hamm could have contributed a lot to this team on floor and vault, Morgan did not look ready to compete at podium training on Tuesday. He did only one tumbling pass on floor, and performed a more simple vault than his usual one (Tsukahara double instead of a Tsukahara 2 1/2).

I think this was the right decision for the US team, and it will be interesting to see which of the two alternates (Sasha Artemev and David Durante) gets the call. Unfortunately, the replacement won't get a chance to train on the podium before the competition -- he'll only be able to practice in the training hall.