USA Men's Gymnastics Team as Good as Gold

 Watching the American men gymnastics team take the bronze was thrilling, but also somewhat bittersweet.

I hoped to cheer on Wisconsin brothers Paul and Morgan Hamm.

[T]he program absorbed twin blows when the Hamms stepped down from the squad because of injuries. Both were two-time Olympians and Paul was the all-around gold medalist at the 2004 Athens Games.

Paul relinquished his spot late last month because of hand and shoulder injuries. Before he broke his hand at the U.S. championships in May he was doing some of the best gymnastics of his life and was expected to challenge China’s Yang Wei for the all-around gold in Beijing.

He was nominated to the U.S. team despite not being able to compete at the Olympic trials and showed enough late last month at a preparation camp to secure his spot. But he resigned a week later, saying his preparation was “laughable” because of the injuries.

Morgan Hamm stepped down because of an injury to his left ankle.

“I’m not able to give the team what it needs, so it’s best for me to step down,” he said. “This is not the way I intended for things to turn out.”

The Hamms are 25 and said they would retire from competitive gymnastics after Beijing. But the U.S. had to move on earlier than expected.

Given that Team USA lost its strongest members to injuries, it was a spectacular achievement to take the bronze.

What I really liked was that the Americans' celebration was indistinguishable from the celebration of the Chinese gold medalists. Their jubilation was no less intense.

They believed in themselves and they accomplished something remarkable.

To me, the Americans were as good as gold.