Four Olympic gym berths now decided
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Paul and Morgan Hamm earned the trip back to the Olympics they fully expected. Jason Gatson and Brett McClure enjoyed the thrill of making it for the first time.
Seven other gymnasts, including five-time national champion Blaine Wilson, walked away from Olympic trials Saturday unsure of where they stand, knowing only that they’ll have to fight it out for the final two spots at a training camp next month.
“Obviously, I’d be happier if they put me on the team,” Wilson said. “But it’s another couple weeks for me to get ready and show them what I have.”
The decision to extend the selection process had a lot to do with Wilson, who is only four months removed from a torn biceps and needs more time to show he’s at Olympic caliber.
It also adds more drama to an already harrowing process, one that spanned more than just nationals and Olympic trials, but the entire 10 months since the men captured the silver medal at world championships last August.
Paul Hamm and McClure earned automatic spots based on their one-two finish at nationals and trials. The selection committee caucused for about two hours after the meet ended to decide what to do with the remaining four spots.
USA Gymnastics president Bob Colarossi said the members pored over a five-inch-high stack of papers, a couple wall charts and data from a couple overworked computers. They could only agree on two names: Gatson and Morgan Hamm.
“The last thing I said to them is ‘you don’t get to do this again for four years, so let’s make sure we do it right,’ ” Colarossi said.
The training-selection camp takes place July 11-18 at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Vying for the two spots with Wilson will be Raj Bhavsar, David Durante, Stephen McCain, Todd Thornton, Sean Townsend and Guard Young.
“I don’t know how I feel about it, because to be honest, I’m not educated on what’s expected from that camp,” McCain said. “I’m happy to be a part of it, for sure.”
McCain and company will surely have a much different experience there than the four who’ve already punched their tickets to Greece.
Like Wilson, Gatson was also coming off an injury — to his back — albeit much less serious.
Gatson left very few doubts about whether he belonged. He was close to spectacular, powering through his routines on parallel bars, high bar and rings to earn scores of 9.75, 9.725 and 9.725 — marks certainly deserving of a spot in Athens.