THE last meet Paul Hamm completed was the 2008 Pacific Rim Championships in San Jose, Calif. (photo below), which he won easily. But his expected showdown
with 2006-07 world champion Yang Wei at the
Olympics that summer never materialized. Hamm
broke a bone in his hand at the U.S. championships, and was forced to give up his spot on the
2008 Olympic team.
With some unfinished gymnastics business,
Hamm voluntarily quit his finance job at Breakwater Trading in Chicago for another shot at the
Olympics. He even patched things up with Stacy
Maloney, the coach he and his twin, Morgan,
abruptly left in 2004 to train and study at Ohio
State. At Swiss Turners in West Allis, Wis.,
Maloney had groomed the Hamms from age-group phenoms to 2000 Olympians—and Paul to
the 2003 world all-around title.
Now Hamm, 27, has his eye on the 2012
Olympics. After announcing his comeback, he
spoke with IG Editor Dwight Normile.
Was this decision lingering since 2008, when
you had to pull out because of your hand
injury? Yeah, there was always a part of me that
thought it might happen. I’d say in the last six or
eight months it’s really been start-
ing to be a thought on my mind.
Did you like your job in Chicago?
I did like it. There’s still a possibility
I would go back and do it in the
future … I don’t know how much
longer my body will last (for gymnastics), so I’m not going to let this
opportunity pass me by.
You’re actually younger (than 27),
gymnastics-wise, since you haven’t
been training… True, I have rested a
lot over the past couple years, and during that time I have been strength training, so I think it’s been good for my body
and joints. I need to be careful coming
back to make sure that I’m ready to do
these skills again and that I don’t push
too quickly.
JEFF SIPSEY
Did you watch the 2008 Olympics,
and if so, what were your feelings?
I watched them from home, which was
Columbus (Ohio) at the time. And I
remember standing up cheering so loud
watching Sasha (Artemev) finish that set
on pommel horse, not to mention the
whole meet. The guys did a fantastic job,
so it was a really fun competition to
watch. And for both Morgan and me, we
felt that there was some part of us on that
team too. We had trained with the guys all
the way through the whole process … and
not only that, we put our hearts and souls
into our comeback. And we were at least
feeling that there was some benefit
from us being around and that there
was some part of us out there on the
competition floor, even though it was-
n’t our bodies, physically.
Paul Hamm
The 2004 Olympic champ is staging another return
What goals do you have for 2012? When I
think about the areas that have a medal, I’m
thinking team, of course, I’m thinking the all-around is one of my next best shots, and I think
high bar there’s a possibility. There’s no real reason for me not to do the all-around, just because I
feel as if I can successfully do all the events and
still be one of the top all-arounders right now.
Since only five gymnasts make the 2012
Olympic team, the all-around is even more
important. Exactly, so there is a shift towards the
all-around gymnast right now, and I’m hoping
that, because I am an all-arounder, that it’s a little
more solid foundation for the team. My goal is to
be on the team and be as good as I possibly can
be…
Does knowing that someone like Marian
Dragulescu won two golds at the 2009 worlds
help you realize it’s not out of the question to
come back? He’s older than you. Yeah, it does.
It makes you believe it’s still possible. He does
some incredible gymnastics, and the fact that his
body is still holding up says a lot. You just need to
be careful, especially with the beginning part of
the comeback. I’m going to make sure to do plenty of basics to prepare my body, but there’s no
reason for me not to believe that I can’t be one of
the best, though.
How do you think you stack up against world
champion Kohei Uchimura? He’s one of the
people that’s motivating me right now, because I
realize how darn good he is. And it makes
me want to beat him because of what
an accomplishment that truly would be.
But he is very good; he’s an awesome
gymnast … on every event, solid. Yet,
at the same time, he’s like me in a lot
of ways, …
Well, your presence makes the
all-around a lot more
interesting, since
Uchimura doesn’t real-
ly have a challenger
right now. Even
Fabian Hambüchen
says he can’t catch
him. When I go
through the events and
stack what I hope to
be doing compared to
Uchimura, it seems to
line up pretty closely. It’s going to come down to
execution and hits.
And you never know what’s going to happen
in competition… And he hasn’t been pressured
yet, either. It’s a lot different if you see, after the
third or fourth event, ‘Oh, Paul’s beating me,’ and
then what the outcome of the meet’s going to be.
You never know.
Have you decided where you will train, and
have you considered having Morgan as your
coach? I have entertained the idea [of Morgan
coaching], and the answer’s no, or most likely no.
I’ve narrowed it down basically to training back in
Wisconsin at Swiss Turners, or going out to the
Olympic training center (Colorado Springs).
Have you reconciled with Stacy Maloney?
Yes. I’ve been back at Swiss just kind of playing
around over the past year, and had talked to
Stacy then, and everything seems friendly. But I
talked to him [in the summer] and kind of wanted
to get an idea of what he would be willing to put
into me training at Swiss, and his role. And he’s
like, ‘You know me, Paul. If you’re in there training, I’ll do what I can to help you.’ So that was
good to hear from him.
And I’ve been going in the past few days to
Swiss, and Andrei Kan has been there, just kind
of busting my butt, telling me to do stuff, and I
say OK [laughs].
But it is a good place to be. The gym is phenomenal, and both Stacy and Andrei are great.
So I have two choices that are very good. I’m
planning to feel out Swiss for some of the summer, and then also go out to the training center
for a couple weeks and feel it out there.
When would you like to return to competition? I’m thinking (2011) Winter Cup, that’s my
goal. And then, hopefully, to do well enough
there and go to American Cup or some other
meets in Europe, some Grand Prix stuff, and then
prepare for U.S. championships and then the
world championships before the Olympics.
You sound excited… Yeah, I am excited about
this. It’s sort of like a freeing moment for me, just
because I get to do what I love again. And at the
same time … like for me, the transition in my life,
especially with my brother getting married, it’s
like it’s been a little bit of a shift. And it’s kind of
just like me right now. I’m just doing something
that I want to do, and it’s exciting. IG
When I go through the events and stack what
I hope to be doing compared to Uchimura, it
seems to line up pretty closely. It’s going to
come down to execution and hits.” “
