BEIJING — Morgan Hamm's eyes were red, his voice shaky.

The bone spurs digging into his left leg made it impossible for him to tumble, and giving up his spot on the U.S. men's gymnastics team was the right thing to do — the only thing to do. That didn't make it hurt any less.

Hamm withdrew yesterday, two days before competition begins. He aggravated a chronic injury in his left ankle during training in Beijing, and it never responded to treatment. He clearly struggled on floor exercise during the men's training session Wednesday, and it wasn't any better yesterday.

"This has been an extremely hard decision for me to make. I've given everything I can to be ready to compete at this Olympic Games," Hamm said. "It's best for me to step down and have another athlete fill my position. This is something for me that's very tough because it's end of my career, and it's not the way I had planned it."

Nothing about these Olympics has gone the way Hamm and his twin brother, Paul, planned it. Not for the Americans, either.

Paul Hamm, the reigning Olympic champion, had to withdraw July 28 because he wasn't going to be healthy enough to compete in Beijing. Besides persistent pain from the right hand he broke two months ago, he has a strained left rotator cuff.

Sasha Artemev, the 2006 national champion and world bronze medalist on pommel horse, will replace Morgan Hamm. He was chosen last night over David Durante.

SOCCER

U.S. MEN WIN OPENER

TIANJIN, China — Stuart Holden ended the United States' three-game scoring drought with a goal in the second half, giving the Americans a 1-0 victory over Japan yesterday in the Olympic opener for both.

The Scottish-born Holden struck a loose ball at the top of the penalty area that Japanese goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa was able to slow, but couldn't keep from trickling over the line in the 47th minute.

Marvelle Wynne was critical in creating the U.S. goal, using sheer speed down the right side to get a half step on Yuto Nagatomo and send his low drive into the goal box. Japanese captain Hiroki Mizumoto deflected the ball out to the top of the penalty area, where Holden ran onto it unchallenged.

NOTES

Boxing: American bantamweight Gary Russell Jr. will miss the Olympics after collapsing last night while trying to make weight. Russell is two-time national champion and one of the top medal hopes for the U.S. team. He is resting after he collapsed in a last-ditch workout to reach the 119-pound limit.

Advertising: A day before the Olympics kick off in Beijing, NBC Universal announced it has garnered more than $1 billion in advertising revenue for the event for which it spent $894 million to acquire the U.S. broadcast and digital rights.