U.S. Olympic alternate Raj Bhavsar, age 27, has been recently named to the U.S. Olympic team after the injury of gymnast superstar Paul Hamm, Olympic gold medalist in the all-around individual competition in 2004. Great for Raj, but unfortunately — in my opinion and others — now China has a stronger chance of winning individual all-around gold (Yang Wei as top contender), with the U.S. falling short with the loss of Paul Hamm, and Russia, China’s two biggest competitors in gymnastics.
Raj has also been named the five hottest men in the Olympics this year. Not bad for an alternate! I still fully expect U.S. Olympic gymnast Kevin Tan to win the gold for the rings. He’s amazing. But I also fully expect the Chinese to bring their A-game to even the rings which Tan usually dominates, so this will be a VERY interesting & nerve-wracking gymnastics competition.
Update: It’s looking worse for the U.S. Olympic team, Paul’s twin brother Morgan Hamm has also withdrew from the Olympics after arriving in Beijing.
