USA Gymnastics has received notification from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) regarding Morgan Hamm’s positive drug test and resulting public warning. USA Gymnastics will review this situation to determine how this may impact his qualification to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team.
As stated in USADA’s official release, “the doping offense involved the use of a prescribed anti-inflammatory medication under the care of a physician but without first seeking a therapeutic use exemption as required by the applicable rules. Hamm, 25, tested positive for triamcinolone acetonide, a glucocorticosteroid, on May 24, 2008,†the second day of competition at the 2008 Visa Championships. …
official press release – USA Gymnastics via Gymnast.com
Everyone agrees that Morgan and his doctor screwed up, but that he did not intend to “cheat” or “beat the system”.
The drug is not performance enhancing.
I don’t think Morgan should be dropped from the Olympic Team over this. But he should be replaced on the team unless his performances have improved from VISA Championships and Olympic trials. He’s the least essential member of the named American Olympic team.
This controversy does not help his case to stay on the Team.
(via Gymblog)
9 comments ↓
Sorry Rick, Morgan didn’t screw up, Miles Avery and his doctor screwed up. Morgan didn’t know that he needed it but both his doctor and Miles did. And Morgan shouldn’t be replaced either.
Sorry Katrina, I personally think that Raj should be going over Morgan in the first place. Perhaps you did not watch the trials?
As far as being guilty of screwing up, absolutely. Morgan is not a kid and as an adult and world class athlete he has to know the drug policy inside and out. Raducan might have had a case, Morgan not so much. All of our Canadian athletes know the policy, not one would make such a dumb mistake.
I did watch trials, and If anybody should be going, it should be David Durante. He can fill Morgan’s spot more than raj can. Raj should move on just like he should have moved on four years ago.
Just because you’re an adult doesn’t mean anything. I’m an adult and I’m still learning things, especially laws. Its not humanely possible to know everything.
Do some MATH. Morgan EARNED his spot. His numbers for trials and nats are good enough that we need him! Spring is the least needed member based on the numbers.
Learn to do math. Sheesh.
Thanks TCO.
The only math I looked at was your numbers. If you say so, I’ll agree.
But honestly, he looked weak and unmotivated when I saw him live. Are you sure his scores are justified?
I got the feeling Morgan’s scores were a bit high. I think someone with less of a name would have received lower scores.
I know a lot of people are pulling for him because of who he is, but there are many people that looked at the men’s trials and had no idea why a couple of the people got picked.
I think overall, having a “name” helped, as it tends to do.
Rick, I know what you mean about Morgan! I was especially annoyed by his allergy (anxiety?) attack at the qualifier. I also think that Justin Spring (and Raj and Durante and Sean) present more sympathetic (more manly) personas than the game-boying Artemev for instance. But Sasha should still be on that team if we care about winning, if we care enough about the team to put the best players on it.
I’m just going off of the numbers. I think there is a certain “cleanness” in doing this, that helps us be more objective. You could say he got good scores from his name, but you could also say that he is capable of doing better if not injured. At the end of the day, I prefer to just let the numbers rule. I think you get a better result doing that. Most baseball coaches (who do a lot of statistics) would tell you the same thing.
we need morgan for his gymnastics as well as his experience. he’ll be better at the games. to say he is the least essential member on the team is absolutely ridiculous. if anyone should not be on the team is justin spring or joey haggerty since their talents overlap, and sasha artemev should be in instead. however, i don’t blame the selection committee for not putting him on the team.
I’m in favor of Morgan being on the team, given his scores during trials and nats. Also, the incident really does appear innocent.
That said, Morgan has a couple strikes against him now (this unauthorized medication prior to competition) as well as his pectoralis tear (correlated to steroid usage). He could be very clean. But were I betting on it, the odds would change a little based on his most recent boo-boo…
Leave a Comment