Paul Hamm’s mother buried her face in her hands.
“He couldn’t do it easy,” Cecily Hamm said, voice quavering. “He had to put us through a lot.”
Hamm, from Waukesha, Wis., channeled his pent-up aggravation over a horribly botched vault into the greatest performance of his career on parallel bars and horizontal bar in Wednesday’s Olympic gymnastics all-around finals.
His night at Olympic Indoor Hall will be remembered as one of the great comebacks in gymnastics history and made him the first American man to win an Olympic gold medal in all-around.
Hamm’s score of 57.823 beat Kim Dae-eun of Korea by .012, the tightest men’s all-around finish in at least 80 years.
A scene destined to be remembered as one of the shining moments of these Games came two days after Hamm and twin brother Morgan led the U.S. to a silver medal in team competition, the country’s first podium finish in 20 years.
“Olympic champion,” Hamm’s coach, Miles Avery, told him about a minute after his perfect dismount off the horizontal bar.
The stoic 21-year-old, who got his start in gymnastics in an old barn near his family’s home in Waukesha, was nearly delirious with disbelief and joy. He raised his arms in triumph to a crowd of cheering Americans, expressing more emotion in one night than he had in his five years on the senior national team.
“I just can’t believe that I was able to come back after that mistake with the best performances of my life,” Hamm said, his eyes still moist with tears.
Hamm, known for his efficiency and consistency, had a simply disastrous vault. He attempted a Kasamatsu with a 1 1/2-twist. He had never missed the vault in a competition, but he missed it badly here. He stumbled out of his landing and fell on the mat, brushing against the judges’ table.
He scored a devastatingly low 9.137.
The mistake came in the fourth of six rotations and dropped Hamm from first to 12th place.
“I thought, `That’s it. I’m done,'” Hamm acknowledged. “I thought there was a small chance of winning a bronze medal. I never thought I could come back and win a gold medal.”
His coach, his family and USA Gymnastics officials had the same reaction.
“I thought it was gone,” Avery said of the potential for gold. “I thought he had no odds at that point.”
Hamm had been in a similar jam once before, in last year’s world championships in Anaheim. There he trailed Yang Wei of China before delivering a nearly perfect routine on horizontal bar to become the country’s first all-around world champion.
Yang was in contention here until he dropped off the horizontal bar and scored an 8.987. He finished seventh overall.
Other gymnasts buckled under the pressure as well. American Brett McClure was in contention for a medal until he scored a 9.162 on still rings in the final rotation. McClure ended up ninth.
Hamm needed to be outstanding on parallel bars and horizontal bar in his last two rotations. He produced a score of 9.837 on parallel bars and moved into fourth place behind Yang Tae Young of Korea, Kim and McClure, respectively.
But in the final rotation Yang scored a disappointing 9.475.
“I thought I was getting a gold until I got to high bar,” Yang said. “I was maybe complacent by that time and I made a mistake.”
Hamm, the final competitor of the night, grabbed the bar to roaring applause by American fans and hit all three of his release moves–unlike Monday, when he included only two in his routine because of an error.
The flawless dismount sealed it. He scored a 9.837.
“If he didn’t stick that landing, we’re not looking at the champion,” said 1984 team gold medalist Bart Conner.
A few rival gymnasts questioned whether Hamm should have received such high scores.
“I do not have any complaints about my scores,” said Ioan Suciu of Romania, who finished fourth. “The only thing I can say is that USA got something more than it deserved.”
Teammate Marian Dragulesco, who finished eighth, agreed.
“Everyone got a fair judgment, with the exception of the USA,” he said. “They got a little bit more.”
Such carping couldn’t put a damper on Hamm’s magical night.
“I think I probably daydreamed about winning the Olympics thousands of times, but I did not ever picture myself making a mistake,” Hamm said. “I would have loved for it to be flawless, but it shows how strong my character is.
“I felt like I overcame something.”
– – –
Paul Hamm’s big night
After a strong start, a fall nearly killed his hopes. But an unparallelled performance on the parallel bars got him back into contention.
FLOOR EXERCISE
Hamm scores a 9.725 and is tied for first place.
POMMEL HORSE
Hamm scores a 9.7 and is tied for second. China’s Yang Wei in the lead.
RINGS
Hamm scores a 9.587 and regains lead.
VAULT
Hamm falls badly on his landing, just missing the judges.
He scores a 9.137 and drops to 12th place.
PARALLEL BARS
Hamm scores a 9.837 and jumps up to a fourth-place tie.
HORIZONTAL BAR
Hamm, on the last routine of the competition, delivers the best performance of his life, scores a 9.837 and overtakes Yang Tae Young of Korea for the gold medal. Yang settles for bronze. Kim Dae Eun of Korea takes silver.
