Fabian Hambuchen

Last night I got home from work quite late and turned on the television for just a moment to see if anything interesting was happening at the Olympics. I was just in time to see German gymnast Fabian Hambuchen perform on the high bar. This was the exhibition that follows the competition, so no medals. Many say the exhibition is where you will see what the athletes are really capable of because there isn't the same pressure found in the judged events, which may or may not have been biased. Subjective observational judging will always have that stigma of wondering if it really fair?
It was easy to see why Fabian was favored to win the high bar competition. He was simply incredible. He twisted and flipped and contorted with precision timing and mastered skill. Fabian is one of a very small handful of athletes from these Olympics I have come to admire (and no, not just because he is really cute). He won the bronze on the high bar instead of the expected gold, but in my mind, he is still a champion and he represented Germany with passion and dignity. Wow! I have included the clip from the 2007 World Championships where he won the gold. Enjoy.