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Tuesday, September 19
Brothers aren't competing against each other
Associated Press
MILWAUKEE -- Morgan and Paul Hamm will be the first twin
gymnasts to compete in the Olympics for the United States when they
take part in the Sydney Games.
And the 17-year-old fraternal twins from Waukesha, Wis., don't
anticipate any sibling rivalry.
|  | | While Paul Hamm, right, qualified for Sydney, Morgan was named as an at-large selection. |
"Our main goal is for the team. Everyone wants a team medal,"
Morgan Hamm said Monday in a telephone interview with The
Associated Press from training camp in San Diego.
"I really don't think they are thinking, 'I am trying to beat
my brother on this event,'" said Stacy Maloney, their coach of 10
years. "It's more like those two versus everyone else."
Their selection already has made U.S. Olympic history. There
were gymnast brothers who competed in the 1956 Olympics but never
twins, said Courtney Caress, communications manager for USA
Gymnastics.
The twins' mother, Cecily Hamm, said they were especially
supportive of each other at the Boston Olympic trials that ended
Aug. 19.
Paul Hamm was assured a spot on the U.S. team with a
second-place finish.
Morgan Hamm had to wait until he and two-time Olympian John
Roethlisberger, 30, were added as at-large selections.
"Once they knew Morgan had made the team, they were extremely
relieved because they wanted to go together and be at each other's
side," Cecily Hamm said.
The twins' father, Sandy Hamm, said the two also showed their
strong mutual support in February, while at the Winter Cup in Las
Vegas.
Paul Hamm withdrew from the last event to ensure Morgan a spot
on the Senior National Team, since Paul already clinched a spot, he
said.
"I don't think any other competitors would do that," said
Sandy Hamm, vice president of the Swiss Turners Gymnastics Academy
where the twins work out. "Everyone thought that was pretty
telling."
"We're best friends," Morgan Hamm said. "We have a great
relationship."
But they purposely pick separate classes at Waukesha South High
School, which helps them not grow tired of each other, Paul Hamm
said.
The Hamms started in gymnastics at the age of 7. Paul Hamm
started first, and Morgan Hamm a month later.
"Their older sister Betsy started a year before that and they
thought it looked like fun, so they picked it up," Cecily Hamm
said.
Betsy Hamm, 20, also a gymnast, said she can't take credit for
her brothers' success.
"I think they've motivated me more than I motivated them," she
said. "I know when I was little, Paul used to teach me stuff. He
was always the bravest of the three of us."
The Hamms leave for Sydney on Sept. 3 and will stay through
closing ceremonies, Cecily Hamm said. They will turn 18 in
Australia.
After the games, they are expected to be part of a two-month
gymnast exhibition tour, including a Milwaukee stop Oct. 26, Sandy
Hamm said.
Both will miss the first semester of their senior year, Cecily
Hamm said, although the school is helping them set up
correspondence courses.
"How can you pass up something like this?" she said. "You
can't replicate this in school. They know they are going to finish
school and they know they will go on to college. We just don't have
an exact timetable."
Sandy Hamm said the boys were offered scholarships but will
forgo taking them and probably attend a local college.
Whatever happens in Sydney, the twins said they will continue to
work hard for the same dream.
"I think I have at least two more Olympics in me," Morgan Hamm
said.
"I want to make two more Olympics," Paul Hamm said. "That
would be the greatest thing."
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