Paul Hamm, the only American gymnast to win the world and Olympic all-around titles, will not be waving the red, white and blue after all. After initially intending to work through a hand injury to compete at the Beijing Summer Olympics, Hamm announced today that he will be unable to compete.

"It was a really tough decision for me to make," Hamm explained. "I pushed for the comeback, I did everything I possibly could. There just wasn't enough time. I feel like if I had another month, I would have been able to get the job done."

With the Opening Ceremonies set to kick off in under two weeks on August 8th, this announcement is likely to end the 25-year-old's career. His gold medal in the 2004 Athens' games, despite being shrouded with a scoring controversy, was a historical high point for the American men gymnastics program.

In addition to the hand injury, which he broke two months earlier, Hamm was also working through a rotator cuff injury. The latter coming during his efforts of recovery.

Hamm was America's best shot for individual gold, and was looking to help the team improve on their fourth place finish at last year's world championships.

Hamm's absence appears to lock in host nation China's, and two-time defending world champion, Yang Wei as his gold medal to lose.

Photo by: Associated Press

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