Maybe this: HAAAAMMMMMMMM! And it's pronounced Hahm, not Ham.

After teaching class last night, I purposefully turned off the radio in my car so that I wouldn't hear any Olympic updates; I wanted to watch the men's all-around competition without knowing in advance who won the darned thing.

Anyway, Hamm had performed well during the first 3 rotations. He actually led at that point. Then disaster struck: he fell during his vault. Not a big step, not a stumble. Hamm fell off of the mat onto his ass. I'm not a gymnastic judge, but I've developed a pretty good eye over the years; usually I can make a good guess as to what the final score will be. So when Hamm's bottom hit the floor, I looked at my wife and said, "That isn't just first place he lost. He may not even medal now."

However, I should have known better. Whenever the US team was in dire need of a big score, Hamm had provided. Apparently, he performs better when coming from behind. So he hits the parallel bars and pulls in the second highest score in this year's competition for the men, a 9.837, which moved him up from 12th place to 4th. Did I mention that he had dropped to 12th after his fall? No? Well, pretty strong move back into medal contention.

The final apparatus was Paul's strongest, thie high bar. And he performs a nearly flawless routine, finishing up by sticking the landing. His final score, another 9.837, vaulted him over two South Korean gymnasts into first place, becoming the first US male to win a gold medal in the all around gymnastics competition.

I've watched lots of athletes over the years. Lots of times, when one of them stumbles, they just give up, finishing with a puny effort. Watching Paul Hamm made me remember why I enjoy watching sports: skill, hope and determination combined into single moment, which an athelete has spent his entire lifetime working towards. To me, that's what it's all about.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 03:52 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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