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Hamm the veteran

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BEIJING -- Of the six men on the U.S. men’s gymnastics team only one has any Olympic experience.

That would be Morgan Hamm, who will be participating in his third Olympics on Saturday when the U.S. begins competition in the team qualifying. While Hamm, 25, is happy to offer advice to his teammates, even the 27-year-old Raj Bhavsar and 26-year-old Kevin Tan, Hamm said he was adamant about one thing.

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‘I personally don’t feel I’m the face of this team. I feel like everyone here brings something different, some excitement and great skills.’

Hamm said he never expected to be his family’s three-time Olympian. But when his twin brother, Paul, the defending Olympic all-around champion, had to withdraw last week because of a hand injury, Morgan said he was able to quickly separate his emotions.

‘I hurt for Paul,’ he said, ‘and I felt badly because we can’t do this together, but as far as the U.S. team, I think we’ll be fine. I’ll have a lot of pride for our team when we march out on Saturday.’

Hamm also said he was being careful with his left ankle. The one in which Hamm received a cortisone shot in May without getting the proper paperwork filed. It was that missing paperwork that led to a warning from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

Hamm said that the ankle is still sore and that he felt it on a landing during his floor exercise practice Wednesday. He had a second cortisone shot about four weeks ago and said he’ll just live with the pain until the Olympics are over.

Paul isn’t in China. Yet.

After saying it was too painful to watch a competition he had been favored to medal in, Paul sent Morgan a text message Wednesday. Morgan looked at his phone just before the U.S. team had a news conference. ‘Thinking of coming to China. What do you think?’

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‘I told him to go for it,’ Morgan said. ‘Really, I’d love to have him in the stands rooting for us. I think it would be great for the team. It would be like we’re doing this together for a third time.’

-- Diane Pucin

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