PHILADELPHIA — Olympic all-around gymnastics champion Paul Hamm is ahead of schedule in his recovery from a broken bone in his right hand and expects to be at full strength next month when he must demonstrate his physical readiness in order to defend his title in Beijing.
Hamm broke the fourth metacarpal bone near the end of a routine on the parallel bars at the U.S. Championships in Houston May 22, undergoing surgery five days later.
He is unable to compete in the Olympic Trials, which began here Thursday night, but as an Olympic and former world champion he is likely to be named to the team at the conclusion of the trials Sunday. Then he will have to prove his fitness at a training camp with the Olympic team July 13-22 in Colorado Springs. Otherwise his place would be taken by an alternate.
Hamm was back in the gym four days after the surgery, doing exercises that don’t put stress on the hand.
“It’s been pretty good,” Hamm said. “I’ve been able to keep in good shape, for the most part. I haven’t lost a whole lot of muscle or atrophied, anything like that. The comeback has been going very well.”
Dr. Lawrence Lubbers of Columbus, Ohio, performed Hamm’s surgery, which involved using a plate and nine screws to stabilize the bone. Hamm also had a bone graft.
“I think we’re on a great timetable,” Lubbers said. “Paul has been more or less a week ahead of schedule, starting day four or day five after surgery, so I’ve been really excited about his progress and his recovery. I don’t think it can go any faster. We’re using every hand-surgery trick you can use to accelerate his healing.”
In another two or three weeks Hamm will start to do “moderate” gymnastics skills.
“After that,” Hamm said, “I have about two to three weeks to start gradually building up into routines, preparing for that camp.”
Hamm said he won’t be 100 percent then but expects to be fully recovered by the Olympics in August.
“I’m going to have to push it because the camp is at that point in time where I’m just starting to get back into everything,” Hamm said. “If I push before that, I’m not sure if I’ll end up damaging the hand any more.”
Lubbers said it usually takes about five weeks for the bone to heal sufficiently to withstand “moderate” stress. Two weeks after that it should be able to hold up under the enormous stresses put on the hands of gymnasts.
“We’re under a very short time constraint to get this fracture healed and stable enough to practice well and then compete,” Lubbers said. “It just gives us enough time to accomplish this.”
Hamm took almost three years off after the Athens Olympics to finish his college education at Ohio State. He eased back into the sport last year and was impressive at the U.S. Championships before he was injured.
“After I was injured it was tough mentally and emotionally for me,” Hamm said. “I was really in the best shape of my life at the U.S. Championships. I was on my last event and I had an unfortunate slip-up that meant I was going to have to take a step back in my training. The possibility of not being able to return was also there.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
