The Ohio State men's gymnastics team just added a big name to its roster: 2004 Olympic champion Paul Hamm.
Hamm, who announced a comeback for the 2012 Olympics last summer, will be an assistant under newly appointed head coach Rustam Sharipov. Sharipov himself a former Olympic champion on parallel bars in 1996, also won Olympic gold with the Unified Team in 1992.
1980 Cuban Olympian Casimiro Suarez, who has worked at Orlando Metro in Florida and with the women's team at the University of Oklahoma, was also named an assistant.
Although Hamm will not be competing for the Buckeyes, his name is likely to turn the heads of recruits as OSU looks to regain some of its former gymnastics glory. The team last won an NCAA title in 2001.
Right before the 2010-11 season began, longtime coach Miles Avery abruptly resigned, leaving the program in the hands of assistants Blaine Wilson and Doug Stibel. Sharipov was named Avery's replacement less than a month ago.
This year, Brandon Wynn will graduate, leaving the team without a breakout star, though it does have several strong competitors, among them New Zealand's Misha Koudinov. Hamm's name, however associated with the team, will be a draw.
Hamm himself is imagined to still be recovering from the torn labrum he had surgery on in the winter. He has been far quieter about this comeback than the one he and twin brother Morgan did in 2007-08, which was documented on their website, MakingtheOlympics.com.
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