At 3 o'clock in the morning, after Paul Hamm won the first individual all-around gold medal in the history of U.S. men's gymnastics, after he waved the hardware for the cameras and took a long, drawn-out drug test, he finally talked to his parents from the athletes' Village. Mom was not in a coddling mood. "Paul," said Cecily Hamm, who raised three gymnasts, including Paul's twin brother and fellow Olympian Morgan, "you put us all through hell tonight." They had a laugh at that one. "Mom, listen," he responded. "I put myself through hell."
For a gymnast and his family, the...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
