Julie Jacobson / AP
Morgan Hamm, above, has pulled out of the Olympics because of an ankle injury, joining his brother Paul, who had pulled out because of injury earlier.
OLYMPICS

Morgan Hamm out of Olympics with ankle injury

Morgan Hamm
Julie Jacobson / AP
Morgan Hamm, above, has pulled out of the Olympics because of an ankle injury, joining his brother Paul, who had pulled out because of injury earlier.
He joins his twin brother Paul on the sidelines, leaving the U.S. without a male gymnast with Olympic experience. Alexander Artemev replaces him.
By Diane Pucin, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 8, 2008
BEIJING -- Morgan Hamm withdrew from the U.S. men's gymnastics team today because of a left ankle injury. He was the only U.S. male gymnast with Olympic experience.

The ankle has been bothering Hamm for more than two months. He has taken two cortisone shots in that time including, one without the proper paperwork filed with the United States Anti-Doping Agency that resulted in Hamm's getting an official warning.

 
During Wednesday's podium training, Hamm landed gingerly on a floor exercise pass and afterward said the ankle hurt.

His twin brother Paul, the defending Olympic all-around gold medalist, withdrew from the Olympics July 28 because of a broken bone in his hand. He was replaced by alternate Raj Bhavsar.

Alexander Artemev, who is capable of medal-winning brilliance but also confounding inconsistency, was chosen to replace Morgan Hamm on the team.

Artemev, who won a bronze medal on pommel horse at the 2006 world championships, had major mistakes on pommel horse in three of the four Olympic qualifying performances. But the U.S. team needed Artemev's pommel horse potential more than the consistency that the third alternate, David Durante, offered.

Dennis McIntyre, U.S. men's program director, said, "In this situation we believe Alex is best suited to help the U.S. men's team pursue a team medal."

Even with his mistakes, Artemev won the pommel horse in the weighted combined scores from the national championships and Olympic trials.

"It's an honor to be on this team," Artemev said in a statement. "But it's a shame it had to happen this way with Morgan getting hurt. He's a tremendous loss to this team. I'm ready to step in because that was my job as an alternate."

diane.pucin@latimes.com




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