Morgan Hamm

Morgan Hamm
Morgan Hamm
	Morgan and his twin-brother Paul performing in 2008 on The Tour of Gymnastics Superstars
Personal information
Full name	Morgan Carl Hamm
Country represented	United States
Born	September 24, 1982 (age 41); Washburn, Wisconsin, U.S.
Hometown	Waukesha, Wisconsin, U.S.
Height	165 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Weight	65 kg (143 lb)
Discipline	Men's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team	2000–2005, 2008
Gym	Team Chevron; Team Texaco; Swiss Turners
Head coach(es)	Miles Avery; Arnold Kvetenadze
Assistant coach(es)	Doug Stibel
Medal record
Representing United States
Men's artistic gymnastics
Olympic Games
World Championships
Pacific Alliance Championships

Morgan Carl Hamm (born September 24, 1982 in Washburn, Wisconsin) is an American retired artistic gymnast and former member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team. He is an Olympic silver medalist in the team competition at the 2004 Olympics and a two-time Olympian (2000, 2004). He also was a member of the silver-medal winning team at the 2003 World Championships. Hamm was named to the 2008 Olympic team but withdrew from it due to injury.

Early life

Hamm was born September 24, 1982, in Washburn, Wisconsin, to Sandy and Cecily Hamm. His twin brother, Paul Hamm, is the 2004 Olympic All-Around Champion. His older sister, Elizabeth (Betsy), is a former member of the USA Gymnastics Senior National Team.^{[citation needed]} He was raised in Waukesha, Wisconsin and attended Waukesha South High School.

Gymnastics career

Hamm competed at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney at age 17, and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, alongside his twin brother Paul. At the 2004 Olympics, he won the silver medal with the U.S. team in the team competition. Morgan's contribution to this medal-winning performance was vital as he performed on four of the six apparatus and was the highest scorer for the team on vault and high bar. He also competed in floor and high bar finals, and only a tie-breaker kept him from winning the bronze medal on the latter event. Morgan was also a member of the U.S. team at the 2003 World Championships that won a silver medal in the team competition.

In February 2007, Hamm announced that he would return to competitive gymnastics. He competed at the 2007 Visa National Championships, on floor and pommel horse. He competed at the 2008 National Championships and at the 2008 Olympic Trials. He was warned by the United States Anti-Doping Agency in July for testing positive for glucocorticosteroid,^[1] which is not performance-enhancing or banned but only allowed if proper paperwork is filed to document that the drug is used for therapeutic reasons. Hamm received the substance through an anti-inflammatory shot to his injured ankle but failed to file the paperwork^[2] and his results at the May 24 National Championships were thrown out.^{[citation needed]} Hamm claimed that he had a legitimate medical need for the drug.^{[citation needed]}^[3] He was ultimately selected for the 2008 Olympic team. However, Hamm withdrew from the Olympics on August 7, 2008, due to an ankle injury.^[4] Alexander Artemev replaced him on the team.

Airflare

Morgan Hamm was the first person to officially introduce the B-Boy maneuver Airflare to gymnastics.^[5]

Personal life

Morgan Hamm also competed alongside his brother, Paul Hamm, in the two 2005 Sasuke competitions (#14, #15,). In the 14th competition he timed out before he could attempt the "Rope Climb" in the First Stage. In the 15th competition, he made it to the third stage and ultimately failed on the "Curtain Cling" obstacle. Unlike his brother, he did not compete in the 16th competition.

In 2010, Hamm enrolled at Concordia University Wisconsin to study pharmacology. In 2014, he successfully completed his studies and earned his Doctor of Pharmacy degree. He is currently a practicing Pharm.D.^[6]

Competitive history

2008 season

Year	Competition Description	Location	Apparatus	Rank-Final
2008	U.S. Championships	Houston	Floor Exercise	1
			Vault	3 (tie)
			Horizontal bar	3
			Pommel horse	8

2007 season

Year	Competition Description	Location	Apparatus	Rank-Final	Score-Final	Rank-Qualifying	Score-Qualifying
2007	U.S. Championships	San Jose	Pommel horse	9 (tie)

2004 season

Year	Competition Description	Location	Apparatus	Rank-Final	Score-Final	Rank-Qualifying	Score-Qualifying
2004	Olympic Games	Athens	All Around			67	38.662
			Floor Exercise	8	9.650
			Horizontal Bar	4	9.787
			Team	2	172.933	2	230.419
	World Cup/Series	Rio de Janeiro	Floor Exercise	2	9.637	1	9.612
	World Cup/Series	Rio de Janeiro	Horizontal Bar	1	9.550	4	9.275
	U.S. Championships	Nashville	Vault	2
			Horizontal Bar	2
			All Around	3
			Floor Exercise	3