Paul Hamm had the best medical care there is, and the drive and determination to make yet another spectacular comeback.

What he didn't have was enough time.

With only about a week of training time left, the reigning gold medalist withdrew from the Beijing Olympics yesterday because he won't be healthy enough to compete. Besides persistent pain from the right hand he broke 2 months ago, he strained his left rotator cuff in his accelerated recovery effort.

"There came a point in the gym where I almost threw my arms in the air and just knew, this wasn't working," the 25-year-old Hamm said. "It was a really tough decision for me to make. You could drag this out even further. But what I know with my body and what I feel, there's no point for me to do that. It's not in the best interest of everyone involved."

The American men go through processing today and leave for China tomorrow. Podium training — the one opportunity gymnasts have to train on the competition floor and in front of judges before the meet begins — is Aug. 6.

The men's competition begins Aug. 9.

"We were so close," said Dr. Lawrence Lubbers, the hand specialist who operated on Hamm on May 27. "Without the shoulder, we probably would have made it. But the two were just too much."

Alternate Raj Bhavsar will take Hamm's place in Beijing.

"It's difficult to train sometimes when you don't know what your training is truly for or whether you'll get that chance. It can be a disheartening experience. There are times you have to dig deep and not lose faith," said Bhavsar, who almost quit the sport after being an alternate in 2004.

USA Gymnastics also is still waiting for final clearance on Hamm's twin brother Morgan, who received a warning July 3 from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for getting a prescribed anti-inflammatory shot without having the proper paperwork.

Paul Hamm's withdrawal is a huge blow for the Americans, who were fourth at last year's world championships and hoped his return — and that of Morgan — would get them back on the podium. Hamm is the only American to win the world (2003) or Olympic (2004) all-around titles.

TRACK AND FIELD

JAMAICAN ATHLETE OUT AFTER POSITIVE TEST

A Jamaican track and field athlete tested positive for a banned substance and will be removed from the country's Olympic team, but officials said it was not one of the Caribbean island's high-profile competitors.

Mike Fennell, the president of the Jamaica Olympic Association, declined to name the athlete whose sample tested positive from Jamaica's national athletics trials held last month, but said it wasn't a "major" member of the Beijing-bound team.

A person familiar with the case told The Associated Press that it does not involve star sprinters Usain Bolt or Asafa Powell, nor does it involve a female athlete. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because no official announcement had been made.

SANCTIONING

IRAQI DELEGATION TO PLEAD CASE TO IOC

Senior Iraqi government officials will meet with the International Olympic Committee today in Lausanne, Switzerland, to try to salvage the country's participation in the Beijing Games.

A delegation led by government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh will discuss reinstating the National Olympic Committee, which was dissolved by the Baghdad government in May, and led to the IOC suspending Iraq from the Olympics for political interference.

Iraq also has verbally committed to a compromise by holding free elections to its national committee under IOC observation.

"Our expectation — and this has been made clear — is that they come to Lausanne to confirm this pledge in person," IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said late yesterday.

The talks will come 24 hours before tomorrow's deadline to submit competitors' names for the athletics events and 10 days before the opening ceremony in Beijing.