Hamm and Horton named in U.S. men's gymnastics team
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Paul Hamm, the 2004 Olympic all-around champion who is recovering from a broken hand, and Jonathan Horton were named in the U.S. Olympic men's gymnastics team after the trials on Saturday.
The rest of the six-man team will be announced by the selection committee on Sunday.
The final day of the women's trials is on Sunday with world champion Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin leading after the first days competition. Two spots on the women's team go to the top two all-around finishers at the trials.
Horton finished first in the weighted, combined all-around rankings which incorporated results from the national championships and the Olympic trials.
"I've worked my whole life for this, to make the Olympic Team," Horton, a two-times national college all-around champion at University of Oklahoma, told reporters.
"All of these athletes have pushed me to where I'm at today. I was just having fun out there today."
Hamm broke a bone in his right hand on the first day of the national championships in May and filed a petition asking to be placed on the Olympic team, which was accepted.
"I have a lot of work to do to get healthy and show the committee I'm ready," Hamm said.
USA Gymnastics official Dennis McIntyre said the selection committee would analyze various combinations before deciding how to round out the team for Beijing.
"We will pick the team with the best potential for success based on how they have performed," McIntyre said.
Horton earned 90.750 points in the overall selection rankings, followed by Joseph Hagerty with 89.940 and Raj Bhavsar at 89.860.
"There was nothing more I could have given or done," Bhavsar said.
Horton finished first in Saturday's all-around competition with a score of 91.650. David Durante was second (90.950) and Bhavsar third (90.200).
High scores on Saturday went to Sean Golden on floor exercise (15.700) and vault (16.400), Durante on pommel horse (15.050); Kevin Tan on still rings (16.550), Bhavsar on parallel bars (15.700) and Morgan Hamm on horizontal bars
(15.500).
(Writing by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Ed Osmond)
