The last few days were incredible. Paul Hamm gracefully bows out... Raj Bhavsar hits the jackpot... Raj is going to Beijing! Team USA is now in China. Is something special about to happen? They are the underdogs. They will be competing for medals that most believe are unattainable. The Chinese are everybody's favorites. After all, they will be competing on home turf. [...more]
NBC has put all gymnastics coverage into their nightly prime time show. This means it will be sharing that time with other sports, and there may be no way to pinpoint the exact times gymnastics will be broadcast (so, to TIVO the events, one will probably have to TIVO the entire prime time show). All times are in both Eastern and Pacific time (so West Coasters will need to avoid news sources for a few hours if you don't want to hear any results). The broadcasts will be on both NBC and NBC HD. Here is the full schedule: [...more]
How will the newly composed team fare in Beijing? The first thing to understand is how the Olympic scoring works. In the qualifying rounds, the 6-5-4 system is used. This means that six athletes will be on each country's team, five athletes will compete on each event, and only the top four scores will count. For the teams that make it to the team finals, [...more]
From China View, 7-30-08 The Chinese men's team eyes most of the gymnastics medals at the Beijing Olympics but Ukraine has also sent its Olympic and European champions to Beijing, head coach of the Ukrainian men's team said on Tuesday. Igor Korobchynsky, the four-time world championships gold medallist and the bronze medallist at the Barcelona Olympics, accompanied his two-member men's team having the pre-game training here on Tuesday. Korobchynsky told reporters after the training that the Chinese gymnasts are strong and will be playing on [...more]
The era of the Perfect 10 is now officially over. Many gymnastics fans will soon experience the International Gymnastics Federation's (FIG) new scoring system for the first time when they tune into the 2008 Beijing Olympic gymnastics coverage. The new system is based on two separate panels of scores. [...more]
The Hamm family will be well represented even in the absence of twin brother Paul at Beijing’s summer games. Morgan Hamm, who was publicly warned by the USADA for testing positive for a prohibited substance, received final qualification for the USA men’s gymnastics team by the International Gymnastics Federation. This all stemmed from Hamm’s not […] [...more]
The Washington Times article of today by Ryan O’Halloran has some wonderful quotes that show Paul Hamm is bright and mature at his moment of private agony. “From the beginning, my attempt at a comeback has been a long shot,” he said. “The time frame was extremely short. … If I had another month, I […] [...more]
What a bittersweet day yesterday. Raj Bhavsar finally ended up with the opportunity to compete in the Olympics. Paul Hamm's gymnastics career came to a crashing halt. In the aftermath of Hamm's announcement came the usual Monday morning quarterbacking and hindsight. International Gymnast's Dwight Nomile wrote [...more]
Raj Bhavsar was selected to replace Paul Hamm on the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Team. Earlier today, Hamm graciously bowed out after realizing that he would not be able to compete at full strength. It was determined by the Men's Selection Committee that Bhavsar would give the men's team the best chance for a medal. [...more]
Bad news has just been received from Indianapolis. Paul Hamm has officially withdrawn from the U.S. Men's Olympic Team. This is a shame and will greatly affect Team USA’s chances to medal in the team all-around competition. Apparently, Hamm has strained his rotator cuff and has been struggling with [...more]
