Olympic all round champion Hamm breaks hand

Olympic all-round champion Paul Hamm has broken a bone in his hand and will miss the U.S. Olympic trials next month, gymnastics officials said Friday.

• The injury occurred while Hamm was on the parallel bars competing in the 2008 Visa Championships in Houston on Thursday.
• USA Gymnastics said x-rays taken on Friday had revealed Hamm had fractured the fourth metacarpal on his right hand, an injury that will take at least a month to heal.
• “We are working to get Paul home to see a hand specialist,” Miles Avery, Hamm’s coach, said in a statement on the USA Gymnastics Web site (http://www.usa-gymnastics.org).
• “We need to find out what the best course of action is to get it taken care of and to develop a strategy for getting him back to this level as quickly and safely as possible.”
• The 25-year-old will have the opportunity to petition USA Gymnastics for a spot on the squad for the Beijing Games in August.
• “This is an unfortunate development in Paul’s comeback,” said USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny.
• “He has demonstrated repeatedly that he can perform at the highest level, so we look forward to knowing more once the injury has been fully diagnosed.”
• The Olympic trials are on June 19-22 in Philadelphia.
• Hamm became the first American man to win the Olympic all-round title when he claimed the gold in Athens in 2004.
• He took time off after the Olympics to concentrate on school before announcing in February last year that he would return to competitive gymnastics.