How will the newly composed team fare in Beijing?

The first thing to understand is how the Olympic scoring works. In the qualifying rounds, the 6-5-4 system is used. This means that six athletes will be on each country’s team, five athletes will compete on each event, and only the top four scores will count. For the teams that make it to the team finals, there are still six athletes competing for each country, but the scoring changes as they vie for the medals. Only three athletes compete on each event, and all three scores count.

NBC’s Tim Daggett has explained how he feels the U.S. Team will fare without Paul Hamm. Daggett believes the team has an opportunity to come together and contend for a team medal. Already the team is showing they have the chemistry to bond and perform at their best.

Despite the loss of Hamm, the U.S. team is still very strong. Morgan Hamm will be competing in his third Olympics. The rest of the team has a lot of international experience. Some people tend to forget that the U.S. team finished fourth at the World Championships in 2007, without Paul Hamm.

The devil will be in the details. The U.S. has some fine all-arounders in Hamm, Jonathan Horton, Raj Bhavsar and Joey Hagerty. Kevin Tan and Justin Spring are fully capable of providing a huge boost to the team’s chances. Horton may very well end up being the key to this team’s success.

Jonathan Horton, the 2006 NCAA all-around champion, came in fourth place all-around at the World Championships in 2007, and the only two finishing ahead of him whom he will be facing in Beijing are Fabian Hambuechen and Yang Wei. Horton has already sniffed the rarified air of top international competition. He’s in the right place.

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