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August 16, 2004 10:56 pm

Heigh-ho, silver for male gymnasts

By JILL LIEBER and GREG BOECK

USA TODAY

ATHENS, Greece — The U.S. men’s gymnastics team came to the Athens Olympics with a unified motto: "One Team, One Dream."

Check that, and make it read: "One Team, One Silver Dream."

The United States struck silver — and only its third team medal in Olympic history — with a show-stopping performance Monday night by Paul Hamm, a redemptive effort by Jason Gatson and a sensational swan song by Blaine Wilson at the Olympic Indoor Hall.

The United States finished with 172.933 points, 0.888 behind gold medalist Japan. Romania took the bronze (172.384), and defending Olympic champion China, which got off to a disastrous start on the opening rotation, the floor exercise, was fifth (171.257).

Winning the silver was a milestone for the U.S. men, who had won only two team medals in Olympic history — gold in the boycotted 1984 Los Angeles Games and silver in 1932, also in Los Angeles.

"Whoever said being a silver medalist stinks, or that winning the silver means you lost the gold, doesn’t know what they are talking about," said an elated Wilson, 30, who finally picked up an Olympic medal in his third and final Games. "Hey, we won the silver medal!"

Said an ecstatic Gatson, grabbing his silver medal and hoisting it high, "Look at this! It’s beautiful. This is the greatest experience I’ve ever had."

Bob Colarossi, the president and CEO of USA Gymnastics, put the milestone in an even bigger context.

"This is the single greatest accomplishment in U.S. men’s gymnastics in the modern era. We came here to take on the world because we knew the whole world would be here.

"Others, not us, debated our men’s team gold medal in 1984 because not everybody was there. This time there will be no Monday morning quarterbacking, there will be no asterisks. The results will stand on their own."

Guard Young set the tone for the United States, opening the night’s competition on the floor exercise and nailing his routine with a 9.7. He stuck his landing and thrust his arms to the ceiling in triumph. Paul and Morgan Hamm followed with strong 9.7s to put the United States into the lead.

The second event, the pommel horse, typically one of the weakest events for the United States, also went well. The highlight was Paul Hamm’s dynamic and stylish routine. At the midway point, as he whipped his legs powerfully around the apparatus, he caused the crowd to go wild, and they hooted and hollered as if he were a rock star.

Then, disaster struck. The United States faltered on still rings, usually one of its strongest events. Gatson scored 9.125 — the judges dropped his score 0.3 for dropping a skill and a connection — and his low score was a double whammy, impacting and lowering Wilson, who came next (9.637).

The United States fell into third place.

Away from the arena floor, U.S. coach Kevin Mazeika gathered the team members and told them not to fret.

"We were doubting ourselves," Young said. "Kevin reminded us the competition was only half over, that if we refocused we could medal."

The United States responded with a solid vault, then Gatson redeemed himself in the parallel bars with a 9.825 routine, the best in the competition, and Wilson and Paul Hamm added 9.7s.

Then they nailed the silver with a worthy high bar, although Brett McClure and Paul Hamm scored only 9.4s, Morgan Hamm came through with flying colors, sticking his landing and scoring 9.762.

"It was a roller-coaster ride, but we got it together as a team," Gatson said. "I’m proud of these guys. We fought back."

The silver medalists would be the first to admit that they are a motley crew.

Paul and Morgan Hamm, 21-year-old twin brothers and two-time Olympians, learned gymnastics by swinging from the rafters of the barn at the family’s farm near Waukesha, Wis., 20 minutes west of Milwaukee.

They practiced on makeshift equipment created by their father, Sandy, the driving force behind their success. A boulder or a tree stump became a pommel horse. A metal rod salvaged from a chain-link fence at a construction site was transformed into a high bar.

Wilson, of Columbus, Ohio, is the comeback kid. He has battled back from disappointing performances at the Olympics — 12th in the all-around in 1996 and fifth in 2000. He has battled back from injuries, including a right shoulder reconstruction in 2001 and the reattachment of a torn left biceps tendon six months ago. And he has endured the death of his first child, Thade, hours before birth.

Gatson, 24, of Upland, Calif., quit the sport in 2002 after a disappointing 18th-place all-around finish in Sydney, knee surgeries and a positive marijuana test. Back problems kept him out of the U.S. nationals in June, and he did everything possible to get to Athens, including cortisone shots, physical therapy treatments and acupuncture.

Brett McClure, 23, of Colorado Springs was dinged along with Gatson on a positive marijuana test.

And Young, 27, of Oklahoma City was the last — and the least likely — to make the team. Although his father, Wayne, was a member of the 1976 Olympic gymnastics team and the 1975 NCAA all-around champion, Guard never reached superstar status. A hard worker, he got to Athens by impressing the men’s program committee at the July selection camp.

Some of the credit for the silver medal, though, has to go to Colarossi. The day after the U.S. men finished fifth in Sydney, he mapped out a plan for Athens, completely changing the philosophy of the federation. In December 2000, he held a men’s program summit in Colorado Springs, bringing together all of the integral components of the U.S. gymnastics community — judges, coaches, athletes and administrators.

His mandate: From that point on, everybody will be treated like equals.

"In the past, USA Gymnastics was made up of a lot of pieces, struggling to come together every four years, and often times not making it," Colarossi has said. "We had to work together with a singular focus, making sure we had one goal in mind. We had to be open, transparent and discuss everything. So that whenever we made a decision, we would get up from the table and everybody would stand behind it."

It was only fitting that the U.S. men’s team came up with the "One Team, One Dream" motto. Even members of the 1984 gold medal-winning team jumped on the bandwagon, having grown weary of the comparisons that had followed in the two decades after their success.

Bart Conner, a member of the ‘84 team, has commented: "I’ve always felt bad about the guys who have followed us. It was unfair because the landscape was different. I acknowledge this: The planets just lined up for us."

Wilson, the tough guy, had told himself he wasn’t going to cry. No matter what. He kept his composure when the silver medal was put around his neck. But he lost it when he tried to put the performance into words for the media.

"It’s been a long road," he said, teary-eyed. "It’s a big win. We haven’t won a team medal since 1984. I’m happy to be in that category.

"It’s been a steady climb the last four years. To come here and medal with other countries watching us, it’s fantastic."

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