Men’s Olympic trials, final night, first rotation

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PHILADELPHIA -- Joseph Hagerty has quietly moved into being a contender. Hagerty, who is from Albuquerque, is 26, has never competed on a U.S. world championship team or even in college. He had serious shoulder surgery in 2005 and has only been competing all-around the last eight months.

But Hagerty finished third all-around at nationals in Houston in May and in the computer-generated weighted score that the U.S. selection is using to consider what mix of gymnasts will make for the strongest team, Hagerty had ranked first overall in floor exercise, first on high bar and fifth on parallel bars as well as first in the weighted all-around ranking. With that said...

WHO’S UP: Hagerty! As many of the other gymnasts fell off assorted pommel horse and high bar routines, Hagerty did a vault with only the tiniest step on the landing to score 15.850. Hagerty has said he would prefer to never be interviewed but he might be one of the two gymnasts named tonight to the men’s Olympic team. We’ll want him to speak.

Morgan Hamm also conquered those first-routine nerves by whipping through a crowd-pleasing high bar routine to score a 15.500.

WHO’S DOWN: Alexander Artemev fell off the high bar; Jonathan Horton had to come to a halt during an early move on the high bar, and Sean Townsend and Cal student Tim McNeill fell off the pommel horse. Raj Bhavsar, so desperately trying to make his first Olympic team, didn’t fall off the horse but his shaky movement scored him only a 14.200.

-- Diane Pucin