A decision, but no 'high noon'

The men's team was supposed to be announced at noon PDT or 3 EDT, and nothing happened when the hour struck. In fact, it was about an hour later that the U.S. men's gymnastics Olympic selection committee provided the list.

But between noon and 1 p.m., word was that the selection committee was, well, a bit confused.

It wasn't surprising because there were a few things to figure out. By measure of all the numbers taken from U.S. nationals and Olympic trials, to include Josephy Hagerty on the team would hypothetically give the U.S. its highest team score. And they did include him in the end.

And leaving off injured David Sender, the new American all-around champion who injured his ankle during warmups last Wednesday and didn't compete in the trials would be, as Sender said, "an unfair decision." And it may be unfair, but that was the committee's decision.

Yet numbers couldn't tell the committee how a young and inexperienced gymnast would do in a hostile foreign environment and the gym in Beijing will be both. Gymnasts such as Morgan Hamm (two Olympics), Raj Bhavsar (two world championship teams), David Durante (three world championships), and Alexander Artemev (three world championship teams) have that experience.

It's not always good experience, though. Artemev fell off his signature apparatus, pommel horse, at worlds in Stuttgart last year, but he is also capable of a medal-winning performance.

Experience won out, to a point. Morgan Hamm made the team. But Bhavsar, Durante and Artemev were picked as alternates.

-- Diane Pucin

Photo: For David Sender, shown here after being injured, Sunday brought only more disappointment. Credit: Rob Carr / Associated Press