Morgan Hamm Beijing Bound

The Olympic year is here! Subscribe or Renew nowso that you don’t miss a single issue of Inside Gymnastics! Plus, subscribe for 3 years and receive a FREE poster of Nastia Liukin!

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) cleared Morgan Hamm for competition in the 2008 Olympic Games, following a weekend conference to determine his eligibility which was attended by USA Gymnastics (USAG) and U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) officials who supported Hamm’s right to compete.

On July 3, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) made public the fact that Hamm had tested positive for triamcinolone acetonide on May 24, the second night of competition at the 2008 U.S. National Championships. Three weeks before the Championships, on May 2, Hamm received an injection of the drug to quell long-standing inflammation in his left ankle and still had trace amounts of the substance, a cortisone-like steroid, in his system when he was tested at the Championships.

Though it is NOT considered performance enhancing, triamcinolone acetonide is a banned substance for all Olympic athletes, but can be used under a doctor’s care via USADA’s “therapeutic use exemption” policy. Though he did receive the shot under Dr. Mark Triffon’s care, Hamm failed to fill out the paperwork requesting the required exemption prior to competing at the championships in Houston.

"It was an innocent mistake," Hamm told the Associated Press on July 3. "You always need to get the forms, that's the most important thing, and that's my failure."

As punishment, USADA issued Hamm a “public warning” and nullified his results from the second day of championships. After consulting with the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) and the men’s Olympic selection committee members (National Team Coordinator Ron Brant, Men’s Program Senior Director Dennis McIntyre, Athlete Representative Jay Thornton, Coaches’ Representative Bill Foster and MPC member Stacy Maloney), USAG announced on July 16 that even with his day two results voided, Hamm still would have made the Beijing team and thus could fairly retain his position.

“Although this is the result we anticipated, we are glad to have the final ruling so we can focus on final preparations for Beijing,” USAG president Steve Penny said in statement. “We appreciate the FIG’s handling this case in a timely manner so the matter was resolved prior to the start of the competition in Beijing.”

The FIG retained the right to contest the decision of the USAG and USOC, as they have final say over gymnast’s competing at the Olympic Games.

The FIG announcement came one day after Morgan’s twin bother, Paul, the reigning Olympic champion, withdrew from the Games due to injury.

The entire saga has been stressful for Morgan, who is getting set for his third Games while recovering from a pectoralis muscle torn in late October 2007 and a mild ankle sprain sustained at Trials.

“Has it been a distraction? Yes,” Hamm’s coach, Miles Avery told Inside Gymnastics. “But Morgan will be ready. He has proven he deserves his spot on this team with his [performances], and anyone who disagrees with that just needs to look at the numbers. The numbers—his scores over two days at Trials—speak for themselves. … Right now, we’re just ready to get to Beijing, get in the confines of the [Olympic] Village and focus on our training. That’s what we’re looking forward to now.”

The entire U.S. team—Hamm, Jonathan Horton, Joey Hagerty, Justin Spring, Kevin Tan and Raj Bhavsar, who moved from alternate to competitor after Paul’s withdrawal yesterday—is currently in San Francisco for Olympic processing. The group leaves for Beijing tomorrow. (Alternates Sasha Artemev and David Durante will also travel to China.) The men’s team prelims begin on August 9.

The Olympic year is here! Subscribe or Renew nowso that you don’t miss a single issue of Inside Gymnastics! Plus, subscribe for 3 years and receive a FREE poster of Nastia Liukin!