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Friday, Aug 20, 2004

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Sport - Olympic Games

A dream spin for Paul Hamm

By John Powers

LORD OF THE RINGS: Paul Hamm of the United States made one of the most remarkable comebacks seen in Olympic gymnastics after an early fall to win the men's all-around gold medal in Athens on Wednesday. -- AP

ATHENS, AUG. 19. He was dead and buried 6 feet under the landing mat, and he knew it. ``That's it, I'm done,'' Paul Hamm told himself on Wednesday night, after he'd tumbled from first to 12th with a slip of a foot on the vault.

And then, the best men's gymnast America has ever produced picked himself off the floor and pulled off the most astounding comeback in the history of the sport, nailing his final two sets to win the all-around gold by the slimmest margin (.012) in Olympic annals.

``Unbelievable,'' the 21-year-old native of Waukesha, Wis. declared, after he'd outpointed South Korea's Kim Dae Eun with a spectacular high-bar finale to become the first American champion in the event's 104 years at the Games and first medallist since Peter Vidmar in 1984. ``I didn't think it was possible once I was in 12th place.''

Neither did anyone with a calculator. Not only did Hamm have to perform all but flawlessly on the parallel and high bars, his rivals also had to crack.

``I thought there was no chance of gold,'' said the defending world champion, who has opportunities for four more in floor exercise, parallel bars, high bar, and pommel horse in the individual apparatus finals. ``Maybe a chance of getting a bronze.''

After three of the six rotations, the Yanks were looking good for both gold and bronze, with Hamm and Olympic rookie Brett McClure sitting first and third. Then came the vault, which felt good for Hamm going up, short coming down, and dreadful upon landing.

``Once I landed, I couldn't stop the momentum off to the side,'' said Hamm, who did an awkward exit stage right and had to be propped up by outstretched arms to avoid falling into the judges.

STANDING TALL DESPITE THE FALL: After slipping while landing in the vault category, United States' Paul Hamm made a great comeback to pocket the gold. — AP

After the predictable 9.137 went up, Hamm sat on the sideline, staring into space in disbelief and exasperation.

``I probably just cost myself any medal,'' he reckoned. But as serendipity had it, Hamm had been up first on the shortest event of the night. So he had 20 minutes to gather wits and will.

Composed

``Paul was still composed,'' said coach Miles Avery. ``He knew he'd dug a hole for himself, but he knew he could still get a medal. And he did not want to give up that medal.''

What Hamm needed was a few slippery hands and wobbly knees around him. One of his top rivals, Japan's Hiroyuki Tomita, had blown up on the first event, tumbling way out of bounds on the floor.

Now, with the contenders either with him or adjacent to him, Hamm put them all in a vice. ``I dug down deep and I fought for everything,'' he said.

Hamm led off the parallel bars with a marvellous outing, sticking his landing as if he were wearing flypaper slippers for a 9.837, the highest score on the event all week. ``Then a few more things went my way,'' he said.

China's Yang Wei lost control on the high bar, was left hanging by one hand, and took a devastating 8.987.

``What a pity,'' said Yang, who ended up seventh after winning silver in Sydney four years ago. ``I really didn't think I would make a mistake on that event.''

Then Romania's Ioan Suciu took a 9.312 and teammate Marian Dragulescu a 9.437 on P-bars and Japan's Isao Yoneda was saddled with a 9.025 on high bar.

And Hamm, who now found himself in a three-way tie for fourth with his best event to go, suddenly saw himself on the podium. ``I was thinking maybe I could get silver,'' he said. ``I never thought it would be gold.''

McClure, who'd performed superbly in his first global all-around, knew he couldn't hold onto third. Not with still rings, his worst event, hanging above him.

``I knew going in that my score was probably going to be low,'' said McClure, who turned in a 9.162 and sagged to ninth. ``But I did the best I could possibly do today. I go out of here with absolutely no regrets.''

Dragulescu had a hitch in his high-bar set, was whacked with a 9.337, and tumbled to eighth. Up came South Korea's Yang Tae Young, who'd had a brilliant night. But a step on his dismount whittled his score to 9.475.

``I got this result because of my own mistake, so I should not complain,'' said Yang, whose bronze behind Kim marked the first two Korean all-around medals in Olympic history. ``I must accept the outcome.''

Between two of them

So it came down to Hamm and Kim, who'd just come off the floor pumping his firsts after getting a 9.650.

``On the last apparatus, I believed that I would achieve the gold medal,'' said Kim, who'd been only 11th in qualifying.

Even to tie Kim for the gold, Hamm needed a 9.825, more than three-10ths higher than he'd gotten in Monday's team final, when his hand slipped and he finished 17th on the apparatus. But it wasn't anything Hamm hadn't done in practice. All he needed was to do something no US male in more than a century had done. ``He's prepared to do this routine in this scenario,'' said Avery. ``Exactly.''

Three consecutive release moves, letting go of the bar in mid-air then grasping it again. Then a dismount that had to be as sure as Neil Armstrong's landing on the moon. Once Hamm did it, and saw the 9.837 go up on the board, he knew he had the silver. ``You're Olympic champion,'' Avery shouted to him.

``I'm in shock,'' he said, after he'd had the gold medal draped around his neck, seen the flag go up and heard the anthem played for him. ``I can't believe I could come back after that mistake.''

Three years ago in Belgium, Hamm had the world gold medal in his grasp until he smashed his face on the high bar and ended up seventh. - New York Times News Service

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