Morgan Hamm Gets Warning by U.S. Anti-Doping Agency

It was a stupid, stupid, stupid mistake and I honestly believe that. I think it would be insane to leave Morgan off the team. He shouldn't get off scott-free because he did make the mistake, but that's just what it was. Thank God this didn't happen in Beijing.
We need him on the US team. His H-bar was second best, his floor is one of the best in the world, and his vault is great. He isn't known for having ever done anything like this before. I hope they don't change his status.

He didn't even deserve to be named to the team in the first place. USAG is obviously taking him to please Paul. Definitely kick Morgan off the team. Why is there even a doubt? Just kick him off!!!

The person I think who should be taking more responsibility is the coach. From what I understand normally it's th athlete's job to go to the doctor's appointments, due the training etc, and it's the coach's job to fill out the paperwork. How much money is Avery paying paid.

One thing I will say about Morgan, it's nice to see him taking responsibilty because he's an adult even though I feel the coach didn't do his job.

rios, you've got it all wrong. we need morgan for his gymnastics as well as his experience. the fact that he got a warning on a stupid technicality is ridiculous. it's not even what he took that is the issue, it's that he didn't fill out some stupid papers. who cares, he'll be ready to go for beijing and we need him.

Sounds like typical drug-seeking behavior to me. "Forget" to file paperwork as you take the drugs, leaving no paper trail. Has he snuck drugs before? Has he previously shown similar behavior or is this a new side of him?

People get so excited about anything involving the Hamms (both pros and cons) without having all the facts (although it is kind of a long time after a joint injection to be testing positive). It will be important for USGA to investigate thoroughly (despite being tempted to just shrug this off). Athletes have been disqualified for much sillier offenses (such as asthma inhalers, which don't even produce pain-killing and euphoric effects, unlike injectable steroids). Remember a certain Andrea Raducan who was stripped of Olympic gold due to taking Sudafed...and that was eight years ago. Right now WADA is on a mission with a motto of "guilty until proven innocent." USGA needs to have all the supporting proof, otherwise the other countries will be all too happy to disqualify team USA.

Baldemar Rios, Morgan deserves to be on the team. I suggest you look at the scores instead of relying on what NBC (which focuses on all-around gymnasts) showed on television.

Morgan Hamm should not go he's weak thats why he uses steroids!! We have Golden who is brilliant on floor, vault and rings, Durante whose consistent, Raj a strong all-around contender anyone of these three gentlemen would be better than Paul Hamms brother on the team if we truley wanted to win in Beijing. Paul Hamm don't get me started, his damn hand is broken and he's still going to the Olympics, Politics I'm finding thats what this sport is all about.

Vicki, he didn't test positive at the Trials; he did it at the US Championships. I don't know why it's just being released now, though...

I agree: this needs to be investigated. However, from what I've seen, it's not as big a deal as everyone is making it out to be. Just because his last name is Hamm does not mean he's either a god or a cheater. He can be in between, although most people tend to think that a Hamm can't.

The fact is that the steroid was not performance-enhancing and that athletes are more than welcome to use it as long as they have the proper paperwork. Morgan also claims that he was slightly mislead about the medication, but take that as you will; it's hearsay. Nevertheless, it is just a silly matter of paperwork. I can't imagine that Morgan deserves to be punished. The warning is more than sufficient. It's his first offense and, with a warning, he is unlikely to commit the offense again. If he does, then further action might be warranted.

Makbane, if the sport annoys you that much, get out of it. Paul deserves that team just as much as anyone else. Considering the form that he was in and will likely be in again, you want him on Team USA. However, that means nothing if the alternative is "Hamm favoritism!" or "special treatment!" God forbid his last name was something different; then he might actually have earned his spot.

As for the people not even reading the articles and just calling Morgan a drug-addict, they don't even deserve an answer. Let them stew in their own vat of misery.

The Diva, Morgan has not done this before. He is no drug-seeker at all.

Morgan Hamm is really getting beat up overall in general because of his selection to the team. People seem to have forgotten that Morgan has been a great gymnast for the U.S. for years. Just because he hasn't competed the AA for four years now and was not the number one gymnast for the U.S. like Paul was does not mean he was a worthless gymnast for the team. He did not ride Paul's coattails to get the results he did and make the teams he did. He earned his spots and he gave a lot to the teams he was on. It makes me really sad that people seem to not remember, or have even known, about what he's accomplished. Going back to 2000 Olympics in prelims, Morgan along with Paul competed the best for the U.S. team, and they were just rookies. We had vets having lots of mistakes here and there and those two competed as if they'd been at the top level forever, when they actually had very little senior level experience. In finals they each had a fall, but they still did a good job overall and compared to the others. Morgan made the Olympic FX final in 2000 as well. He finished 3rd AA at the 2001 ATC (formerly called ITC). He was a major contributor to the 03 world silver medal winning team on three events. He finished 4th AA at 03 Nationals and 3rd AA at the 2004 Nationals. The team used him on four events for the Olympics in 2004, making him a major contributor there (the Hamms together did like half of routines for the team in finals) - he did a great job competing there, and all of his scores counted in prelims. He made FX finals again, and he finished 3rd on HB, but they used a random tie breaker procedure so he didn't get a bronze. He's won World Cup medals and medals at the 04 Pacific Alliance. Even at Nationals in 2007 he outscored several gymnasts on one of his PH routines. He was a top FX, PH, VT, and HB worker for the U.S. in the past, and he is now as well (needs to work on pommels, but he is capable of scoring one of the better scores, a big reason why he made the team). Can you list all of these accomplishments for most of the other gymnasts in the Trials field? No, you really can't. I do realize you do have to be able to deliver now - I agree it is very important, and he did give them routines and scores to work with to plead his case for the team. Unfortunately he jammed his ankle on the first night of Trials - I really think he would have been sharper there and made a bigger impression (on FX especially) had that not happened. Also, it's just great that he is able to come back so well from that pec tear he suffered less than a year ago. He's proven for years that he has been an asset for the U.S. team.

I'd like to present some of the scores he put up over Nationals and Trials (with an emphasis on Nationals, since some people seemed to not pay attention to those results). I will include Nationals day 2 as well, as I do not believe the medicine he took for his ankle gave him any kind of advantage over others in competition.

FX: 15.75 (1st - tied with Paul, Nationals prelims)
VT: 16.4 (1st - Nationals prelims)
HB: 15.4 (2nd - Nationals finals, Hagerty was 1st)

Comparing him with some of the other gymnasts, like Durante and Bhavsar - Morgan (8th with a 14.25, 14.15) ranked above Durante (15th with a 13.55 and 14) and Bhavsar (16th with a 14.4 and a 13.4) on PH in Nationals rankings (the two days added together to determine a champion). That one was crucial. Durante is supposed to be one of the more decent gymnasts on PH, but he scored a couple of 13s and a 14.00 on this event three out of four routines (only one good score of 15.05) He was the FX champion (before this warning came about). He outdid them on VT as well.

Durante is not consistent at all. I don't know where that one came from. He has a history of messing up at the crucial times, 2007 Nationals being the big exception. He doesn't have a record anywhere near Morgan's, Raj's, Jonathan's, Sean Golden's, etc. An alternate spot is the best place for him, IMO. Raj is not good on HB, which was a disadvantage to him. Also, Morgan outscored him on PH at Trials. Those two events were crucial for the team.

nlm2183, it's best not to bother any more telling people that Morgan made an innocent mistake. From what I see, things seem to be dying down a little. Now I only see rash, unreasonable accusations against Morgan. These people, like The Diva, are just trying to rile everyone up. People who care about the sport are doing the reading. No matter what their opinion of the US Team, they don't call Morgan a drug-addict or steroid user.

But thanks for the bit of info about Morgan! I like that someone compiled some information about him where people can see it. You put a lot of work into your answer and I appreciate it. Honestly, I'd forgotten about Dave's PH at Nats. Ouch. It's scary how much the US is troubled by pommel.

Whatever you think about Morgan's gymnastics, the issue at hand is the doping violation. His gymnastics shouldn't play into it. And while he did make a mistake, and action should be taken, I feel kicking him off the team would be far too extreme. The injection would have been legal had the paperwork been filled out and he didn't mean to violate the rules. There are serious doping problems in sport and freaking out about comparative non-issues like this turns the public off. Let's not have another Andrea Raducan situation. When a good citizen gets caught speeding, they get a ticket, not thrown in jail. Athletes should be treated with the same decency.

Andreea Raducan lost her gold medal in 2000 for a comparable situation ... but then again she had taken a cold preparation that isn't even on the list of banned substances any more.
Morgan had taken steroids and this should merit an automatic exclusion from Olympic competition. All athletes who test positive initially provide an explanation as to why they are innocent. In this case it's that the correct paperwork hadn't been done but how can we know that this is the only time this has taken place? If we accept this as an explanation, doesn't it make it difficult to exact fair sanctions for cheating elsewhere? This is a serious error and exactly the same one that Raducan's doctor made in 2000 when she lost the medal. Rules are rules.

elizabeth don't start with that "rules are rules" crap. the punishment needs to fit the "crime". if he had taken a banned, performance-enhancing substance, then that would be a different story. but he didn't now did he. plus, the "rules" don't even say he should be kicked off the team. the rules say his scores for night 2 of nationals are void, and that's just what they did, and that is enough.

Part of the problem is that the process of making the judgement lacks transparency. Why did it take so long to make an announcement?
All athletes who test positive can provide a fairly good cover story. It took several years and a complex court case to reveal how Marion Jones had cheated. How can a bystander possibly judge whether what is being said is true?
Morgan took steroids without the necessary paperwork being in place in advance. This may not even have emerged had he not tested positive.
He should not be at the Olympics, out of fairness and for the sake of supporting a clean slate for gymnastics and, more widely, sport, in respect of doping.

elizabeth, if you choose not to believe him that's your decision. but at the very least it is a proven fact that what he took was not performance-enhancing. and since it is only a technicality that is being discussed, that should not lead to such drastic measures as being kicked off that olympic team. i want a drug-free olympic team as well, in fact i demand it of all olympic athletes (or athletes in general for that matter), but that fact remains that this is a lot different, as it didn't make him better or anything. you wouldn't put someone in jail for stealing a pen, and it's also not right to kick morgan hamm off the team for something that's a paper work matter rather than cheating to get ahead.

Why have rules if they aren't enforced? Most athletes that get caught say it's an "innocent mistake". I only wonder how many magic injections he has taken.

rios, who cares about whatever "magic injections" you're talking about. he clearly has not used them in competition and that's what matters. as for this incident at nationals, i believe banned substance rules need to be enforced, but who really cares if it's not performance-enhancing. plus, whatever the "rules" are in this given situation, they were upheld, as his scores from day 2 of nationals have been void. so they were enforced.

I think the whole problem is that you can't 'clearly' say anything. A ruling of this kind should not be made on the basis of a choice to believe, but on the hard evidence available. From what we know the only hard evidence available is Morgan's positive test. He's not that good a gymnast anyway, and arguably the national champion should be sent in his place. Surely the national team wants to avoid any possible controversies about future positive tests? I wonder where the rule book on national team selections is?

to say that morgan hamm "is not that good a gymnast anyway" is absolute ludacris. not only is he an incredible gymnast, but we need him for his gymnastic ability as well as his experience. as for david sender, people seem to have a mental block and automatically think he's the best the u.s. has because he has the title of national champion. the fact is he's not the best in the u.s., not by a long shot. don't get me wrong, he's a great gymnast, but he's not strong where we need him. keep in mind we need pommel horse (which morgan can help a lot, especially in place of sender), and had jonathan horton hit just a little bit better he would have had the title instead, and would have won by a lot had he gone 12 for 12. also had paul hamm not been injured he would have won by something 10 times what you'd call a land slide. face it, the u.s. team needs both hamms. and as far as hard evidence, i gave it in a previous comment. this is the first and only time he's ever had even a warning, and it was not performance-enhancing. his scores were void as they should be, and that's good enough. plus, this incident could be beneficial concerning avoiding future positive tests, being that this is a lesson learned and everyone will be extra careful in the future to clear EVERYTHING, paperwork and all, so that this doesn't happen again.

You go alexandrite105!!!!!! Thanks for standing up for Morgan! Listen to him guys!!!