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Sports Quick Take

■ Gymnastics
Hamm gets gold despite fall
Paul Hamm fell onto the edge of the judges' table while landing his vault, but recovered with two of the most spectacular routines of his career to win the men's all-around gymnastics title Wednesday night by the closest Olympic margin ever. Needing a 9.825 on high bar, his best event, to tie Kim Dae-eun of South Korea for gold, Hamm hit three straight release moves to perfection and became the first US man to win gold in the event. Yang Tae-young of South Korea won the bronze. Brett McClure of the US was ninth. Hamm's margin of victory was .012. The previous closest margin in the event was .017 by Leon Stukelj of Yugoslavia over Robert Prazak of Czechoslovakia in 1924.

■ Athletics
Greek sprinters withdraw
Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou withdrew from the Athens Games on Wednesday, nearly a week after missing a drug test and being hospitalized following a suspicious motorcycle crash. The IOC's executive board proceeded with a hearing despite the runners' announcement and referred the case to the International Association of Athletics Federations. The IAAF will discuss the case Aug. 26 but won't rule until after the games. Kenteris, the reigning 200m Olympic champion, is the country's most celebrated athlete and was Greece's best hope for gold in track at the Athens Games.

■ Shot Put
Ukrainian perseveres
Ukrainian Yuriy Bilonog took a flag-draped victory lap while American Adam Nelson stood in the shot put ring for three minutes, pointing at officials and pleading. Nelson led the entire competition, but Bilonog's final throw tied Nelson for the best of the day. Nelson had one last chance to win and unleashed a great toss, but was called for his fifth consecutive foul. Since Nelson had no other good throws and Bilonog had several, the Ukrainian won. Denmark's Joachim Olsen won the bronze. Russian Irina Korzhanenko won the women's event while Yumileidi Cumba of Cuba won the silver and Nadine Kleinert of Germany took bronze.

■ Equestrian
Germany wins gold -- twice
The Olympic three-day team event degenerated into an unprecedented free-for-all before Germany ended up with the gold -- twice. First, the judges gave Germany the gold and France the silver, while Britain took bronze. Then they stepped in to investigate whether the clock was running when Bettina Hoy of Germany, riding Ringwood Cockatoo, crossed the start line. The judges ended up awarding France the gold and docking Germany 12 points, dropping it from first place to fourth in a decision that lifted the US to third. Germany responded by asking for a review by an appeals committee, which reversed the judges, and that helped the Germans reclaim their gold. In the individual three-day event, Hoy won gold, Leslie Law of Britain won silver with Shear l'Eau and Kimberly Severson of the US won bronze aboard Winsome Adante.

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