Morgan Hamm

Morgan Hamm
Full name Morgan Carl Hamm
Country represented  United States
Born September 24, 1982 (1982-09-24) (age 29)
Washburn, Wisconsin
Hometown Waukesha, Wisconsin
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Discipline Men's artistic gymnastics
Club Ohio State University
Head coach(es) Miles Avery
Arnold Kventenadze
Doug Stibel

Morgan Carl Hamm (born September 24, 1982 in Washburn, Wisconsin) is an American artistic gymnast. He represented the United States at the 2000 Summer Olympics and at the 2004 Summer Olympics. At the 2004 Olympics, he won the silver medal in the team competition. He was a member of the silver-medal winning team at the 2003 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. Hamm was named to the 2008 Summer Olympic team, but withdrew from it due to injury.

Contents

Personal life

Hamm is the son of Sandy and Cecily Hamm. In addition to his twin brother, Paul Hamm, his older sister, Elizabeth (Betsy), is a former member of USA Gymnastics Senior National Team. She competed for the University of Florida, where she became the NCAA’s national balance beam champion in 1998 and was a seven-time All American. His father was an All-American springboard diver.

Hamm was married on May 23, 2009.

Career

He competed at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney while aged 17, and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, alongside his twin brother Paul, helping the American team win the silver medal in the team gymnastics competition. Morgan's contribution to this victory was vital as he performed on four of the six pieces and was the highest scorer for the team on vault and high bar. He also competed in floor and high bar finals, and only a tie-breaker kept him from taking bronze on the latter event. Morgan was a member of the US team at the 2003 World Championships, where he helped earn a silver medal.

In February 2007, Hamm announced that he would return to competitive gymnastics. He competed at the 2007 Visa National Championships, on floor and pommel horse. He competed at the 2008 Nationals and at the Olympic Trials. He was warned by the United States Anti-Doping Agency in July for testing positive for glucocorticosteroid,[1] which is not performance-enhancing or banned but only allowed if proper paperwork is filed to document that the drug is used for therapeutic reasons. Hamm received the substance through an anti-inflammatory shot to his injured ankle but failed to file the paperwork[2] and his results at the May 24 nationals competition were thrown out. Hamm claimed that he had a legitimate medical need for the drug.[3] He was ultimately selected for the 2008 Olympic team. However, Hamm withdrew from the games on August 7, 2008, due to an ankle injury.[4] Alexander Artemev replaced him on the team.

Sasuke

Morgan Hamm also competed alongside his brother, Paul Hamm, in the two 2005 Sasuke competitions (#14, #15,). In the 14th competition he timed out before he could attempt the "Rope Climb" in the First Stage. In the 15th competition, he made it to the third stage and ultimately failed on the "Curtain Cling" obstacle. Unlike his brother, he did not compete in the 16th competition.

Competitive history

2008 season

Year Competition Description Location Apparatus Rank-Final Score-Final Rank-Qualifying Score-Qualifying
2008 U.S. Championships Houston Floor Exercise 1
Vault 3 (tie)
Horizontal bar 3
Pommel horse 8

2007 season

Year Competition Description Location Apparatus Rank-Final Score-Final Rank-Qualifying Score-Qualifying
2007 U.S. Championships San Jose Pommel horse 9 (tie)

2004 season

Year Competition Description Location Apparatus Rank-Final Score-Final Rank-Qualifying Score-Qualifying
2004 Olympic Games Athens All Around 67 38.662
Floor Exercise 8 9.650
Horizontal Bar 4 9.787
Team 2 172.933 2 230.419
World Cup/Series Rio de Janeiro Floor Exercise 2 9.637 1 9.612
Horizontal Bar 1 9.550 4 9.275
U.S. Championships Nashville Vault 2
Horizontal Bar 2
All Around 3
Floor Exericse 3

2003 season

Year Competition Description Location Apparatus Rank-Final Score-Final Rank-Qualifying Score-Qualifying
2003 World Championships Anaheim Team 2 171.121 1 227.743
U.S. Championships Milwaukee Floor Exercise 1
All Around 4

2002 season

Year Competition Description Location Apparatus Rank-Final Score-Final Rank-Qualifying Score-Qualifying
2002 U.S. Championships Cleveland Floor Exericse 1
All Around 4

2001 season

Year Competition Description Location Apparatus Rank-Final Score-Final Rank-Qualifying Score-Qualifying
2001 World Championships Ghent Team 2 166.845 2 221.420

2000 season

Year Competition Description Location Apparatus Rank-Final Score-Final Rank-Qualifying Score-Qualifying
2000 Olympic Games Sydney Floor Exercise 7 9.262 7 9.612
Team 5 228.983 4 229.208

References

  1. ^ The Associated Press and McClatchy Newspapers. "Olympics | Gymnast Morgan Hamm gets OK to compete", The Seattle Times 30 July 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  2. ^ Amanda Turner. "Artemev Replaces Hamm on U.S. Team", International Gymnast Magazine 6 August 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ ESPN - Morgan Hamm joins brother on Olympic sidelines - Olympics

External links