Controversy has ended for the U.S. men’s gymnastics team. The pursuit of the team’s first Olympic medal in 20 years is its only concern.
A judging brouhaha on high bar became a moot point by Sunday, when the U.S. announced its lineup for the team finals, because the gymnasts affected by a scoring change–Blaine Wilson and Jason Gatson–will not compete in high bar in Monday’s finals.
Brett McClure, Morgan Hamm and Paul Hamm were chosen, with Wilson as an alternate.
The U.S. finished second in preliminaries behind Japan. Romania was third, followed by China.
The Americans closed the gap on China in last year’s world championships, finishing second to the Chinese by less than a point. The result affected the program immensely, putting it on even ground with the world’s elite.
“But the last world championships were in Anaheim,” 1984 U.S. Olympic gold medalist Bart Conner said. “The U.S. doesn’t have that advantage now.”
China’s fourth-place finish in the prelims was hardly indicative of its international dominance. The reigning world champions coasted through the preliminary round. Preliminary scores do not count in the finals.
“China just went out there and worked out,” Conner said. “In swimming you would call it a taper. They just went out there and took it easy. They even lowered the value of some routines because they knew they were a lock for the finals.”
The U.S. also left room for improvement.
“We need to swing pommel horse a little bit more aggressively,” Paul Hamm said. “We need to hold strength moves longer on rings. Even my pommel horse routine, I felt like I was a little bit tight. I could have been more aggressive.”
Besides anchoring the team’s lineup on high bar, Hamm will be the team’s final performer on floor exercise, pommel horse and vault.A team medal could diminish the memory of Saturday when Wilson said head high bar judge Sawao Kato of Japan and technical director Adrian Stoica of Romania cheated by lowering the value of a high bar release move three U.S. gymnasts, including Wilson, had intended to use in the Olympics.
Wilson replaced the devalued move and fell from the bar while attempting a different move Saturday. Team officials said Wilson was not injured in the fall. USA Gymnastics officials said they were frustrated by the judges’ decisions but distanced themselves from Wilson’s accusation of foul play.