Hamm wins gold in gymnastics all-around

ATHENS (Reuters) - Paul Hamm etched his name into the record books as he became the first American man to win the Olympic gymnastics all-round crown Wednesday Hamm overcame a fall from the vault to grab a last gasp victory with the final routine of the day for a total score of 57.823. "I thought after the vault I cost myself any medal. My thought was I should shoot for bronze," said a jubilant Hamm after adding the Olympic gold to the world title he won last August. "I dug down deep and gave it everything I had on the parallel bars and high bar. And after high bar, my coach said 'all right Olympic champion, and I said 'what, no way'." Mounting the horizontal bar trailing in fourth place, Hamm completed his gravity-defying routine to perfection and threw his arms up in the air in victory even before the judges had declared their verdict. His final score of 9.837 was enough to edge out South Korean's Kim Dae-eun by just 0.012 of a point and spark off ecstatic celebrations around the Olympic Indoor Hall. Read more here