ATHENS, Greece – Paul Hamm ought to get two golds for this performance.
With his medal hopes seemingly gone after he hit the judges' table on
his vault landing, Hamm performed two of the most spectacular routines
of his career to win the men's all-around gymnastics title by the
closest Olympic margin ever.
Hamm needed a 9.825 on the high bar, his best event, to tie Kim Dae-eun
of South Korea for gold – and he was dazzling. The highlight of his
routine are three straight release moves, and he did them to perfection
Wednesday night to become the first U.S. man to win the event.
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MICHAEL MULVEY/The Dallas Morning News
American gymnast Paul Hamm listens to the Star Spangled Banner during the medal ceremony after he became the first American man to win the all-around gymnastics gold medal.
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Hamm, the reigning world champion, threw himself up and over the bar,
catching it on the way down once, twice and then a third time, soaring
higher with each toss. As he caught the bar the third time, the crowd
roared.
Hamm's dismount was perfect, and he hit the mat with a solid thud.
Knowing the gold was his, he thrust his fists into the air and threw his
head back. He waved at the crowd and then sprinted off the podium
clapping his hands while his coach, Miles Avery, jumped up and down on
the sideline.
Yang Tae-young of South Korea won the bronze. Brett McClure of the
United States finished ninth.
Hamm's margin of victory was .012. The previous closest margin in the
event was .017 by Leon Stukelj of Yugoslavia over Robert Prazak of
Czechoslovakia in the 1924 Games. The women also had .012, in 1992, when
Ukraine's Tatyana Gutsu edged American Shannon Miller.
After Hamm's victory, Avery grabbed him in a bearhug. His competitors
did the same, then Hamm dropped into a chair, seemingly overwhelmed at
what he had done.
The celebrations were only beginning. When Hamm's score of 9.837 flashed
on the scoreboard, the arena went into a frenzy.
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MICHAEL MULVEY/The Dallas Morning News
USA's Paul Hamm sits near the judges' table as an official checks on his condition after Hamm missed his vault landing and tumbled off the landing pad. Hamm came back to take the gold medal with a spectacular high-bar routine.
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"We all knew that Paul was the best coming in," said Bob Colarossi,
president of USA Gymnastics. "To fall and then have to do a perfect
routine to win it and stick the landing, is incredible."
As the world champion, Hamm came in as the clear favorite. And the gold
medal appeared to be within his grasp when he took a .038 point lead
over China's Yang Wei, his biggest rival, halfway through the meet.
Vault is usually one of Hamm's stronger events. He looked good when he
hit the springboard and leaped forward, turning his body sideways before
his hands hit the horse.
Springing backward, he did 11/2 somersaults in the air. But he didn't
get enough height on the twists, and he hit the mat in a crouch. He had
no chance to stabilize himself, his left leg crossing over the right and
sending him on a sickening stumble.
The crowd gasped as Hamm fell sideways and back off the mat, hitting the
edge of the judges' table before he plopped down, a stunned look on his
face. He got up and walked off the podium, shaking his head and thinking
he'd probably just cost himself the gold.
He looked dazed when he saw his score of 9.137, which dropped him all
the way to 12th place and more than a half-point behind Yang – a
seemingly insurmountable deficit. He still had two events to go, but he
had to be absolutely perfect and hope that one of the gymnasts in front
of him would make a mistake.
Hamm did his part on his next event, the parallel bars. Going first, he
flipped from one handstand right into another on the delicate bars,
remaining so still he looked like a marble statue. His dismount was
textbook perfect, hitting the mat and not moving a centimeter.
His score, also a 9.837, was the highest of the night on the parallel
bars, moving him up in the standings. But he needed help, and he got it
as one by one, his competition fell away. First went Yang, who lost the
gold medal to Russian star Alexei Nemov in Sydney four years ago and
then finished second to Hamm at last year's worlds.
Doing a one-armed pirouette on the high bar, Yang reached to grab the
bar with his free hand and came away empty. Swinging wildly like a kid
on the monkey bars, Yang tried to hang on but couldn't, dropping to the
ground and taking his medal hopes with him.
Isao Yoneda of Japan fell on a similar move. Ioan Suciu of Romania
stalled on a handstand. Marian Dragulescu couldn't keep his arms locked
on a flip on the parallel bars, sinking well beneath the bar with his
legs flailing.
When the rotation finally ended, Hamm had moved all the way back to
fourth place, only .313 points out of first.
Kim was the second gymnast on floor, and his routine was solid but not
spectacular. He looked up as he walked off the floor, then went to the
sideline to wait. About five minutes later, it was Yang's turn on the
high bar. His routine was serviceable, too, but hardly golden, and a
small step on his landing gave Hamm a chance.
He took it.
Hopping up and down as he waited, Hamm was the picture of calm once he
stepped on the podium. Starting with slow swings, he quickly built
momentum.
Jerking back on the bar as if to get as much power as he could, Hamm
began his release moves, blind throws more than 10 feet in the air that
some acrobats wouldn't try.
But Hamm has a way of making it look easy. And now he has a gold medal
to show for it.
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