Morgan Hamm not quite a sure thing yet

U.S. Olympic men's team gymnast Morgan Hamm isn't yet totally free of possible consequences of his failed doping test at the U.S. national championships.

The controversy started in May, when Hamm, 25, received a cortisone shot for an injured ankle. The shot would have been legal had his doctor filed paperwork that described the shot as being for therapeutic purposes.

The paperwork wasn't filled out, Hamm failed the doping test and the results were sent to the United States Anti-Doping Agency. The USADA, satisfied that Hamm's only mistake was the failure to file paperwork, chose to issue Hamm a warning, not a suspension.

Now, FIG (the international gymnastics federation) has the option to ask that USADA's decision be overturned. If that were to happen, the case would be taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.

"We're waiting to hear from FIG," USA Gymnastics President Steve Penny said today. "They only thing they can do is appeal the USADA warning. We don't expect they will. USADA is confident in the steps it has taken."   

-- Diane Pucin

Photo: Morgan Hamm, right, looks at his brother Paul Hamm, center, and Jonathan Horton during the U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials on June 21 in Philadelphia. Credit: Julie Jacobson / Associated Press