Light the Torch – Beijing Olympics and Other Olympic News

Conference Call With Gymnast Paul Hamm

by Jeanne Dupuis on June 19th, 2008

I was fortunate enough to participate in a conference call this morning with American male gymnast, Paul Hamm (thanks to Sandy!).

I’ve written about his hand injury and accelerated recovery (I even talked about his experience at the 2004 Athens Games if anyone is interested) and now I can provide somewhat of an update on his chances of competing in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. 

The call began with Paul and his surgeon, Dr. Lawrence Lubbers, describing the nature of the break in his hand and the surgical interventions used to repair it.  Paul stated that Dr. Lubbers rated the surgery a “99 out of 100 [percent]” and that things went as smoothly as possible.  Paul says that he almost has his full range of motion back (thank goodness) and that he was in a lot of pain after the surgery but, because of the great care he has received, he was quickly back in the gym.  He also mentioned that finding a good doctor is essential and that he chose Dr. Lubbers because he is a member of the “Hand Society,” which is a group of elite surgeons who specialize in the type of injury Paul suffered.

I asked Paul about how this has affected his mental preparation for the Games and he said that it has been tough for him to go through this, especially as he sits on the sidelines and watches others compete in the Olympic trials.  Dr. Lubbers added that mental counseling is a big part of what a hand surgeon does and that helping a patient be in a good mental state is important to the recovery process, regardless of how well things are going physically.  He said that Paul has been an exemplary patient (no surprise to me!).

I thanked Dr. Lubbers for taking such great care of my favorite male gymnast and asked about whether the compression glove and ultrasonic stimulation that I read they were using had been important to controlling the swelling.  Again, he mentioned that Paul was a “model patient” since he had very little swelling but that they have made great use of these therapeutic tools along with others (it got a little technical for me to take notes).

Of course, regardless of how well Paul recovers, it will be up to the US Olympic committee to decide whether he will get a spot since he cannot compete in the trials.  I am hoping that he is put on the roster but, after the Team USA debacle with basketball player, Becky Hammon, I’m not going to assume anything.

And now, if you will bear with me, I just need to gush for two seconds about how cool it was to have Paul talk to me - to ME!!!!  I have interviewed people in the past but this one just really made me so happy.  Okay, I’m done :)

image provided by newscom

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POSTED IN: Beijing 2008, Olympians