Houston gymnast Raj Bhavsar on Tuesday was named in the US Gymnastics men's 2008 Olympic team after he was chosen to replace the injured Paul Hamm.
All-around champion Hamm, winner of one of the most controversial golds at the 2004 Athens Olympics, withdrew from the Beijing Games due to injury.
"I have put my heart and soul into this comeback and I've done everything I could to get ready in time to compete in Beijing," the American told reporters in a teleconference.
"Had I had another month, I think I would have been able to get the job done... I'm dealing with a beat-up body right now."
Hamm was recovering from a broken bone in his right hand sustained in competition on May 22.
But the 25-year-old said he had also since strained the rotator cuff in his left shoulder and has not been able to perform a full routine in over two months.
"For my comeback to be successful I needed to make continuous progress and have no setbacks," he said.
"Right now there are only five days of training left before the podium training in Beijing and I can see now that it would be impossible for me to be ready.
Four years ago Hamm became the first American man to win the all-round title but his victory sparked one of the biggest controversies of the Games.
He had to battle all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to keep his medal after the governing body in gymnastics (FIG) announced he had been handed the gold in error.
The FIG admitted bronze medallist Yang Tae-young should have been awarded the gold as he had been incorrectly docked a 10th of a point from his parallel bars routine but the governing body refused to redistribute the medals.
The FIG's stand forced the South Koreans to appeal against the decision but CAS ruled in favour of Hamm.
The 27-year-old Bhavsar was an alternate for the 2004 Olympics, which nearly drove him to retirement but returned to Houston to train with Olympic coach Kevin Mazeika. But the same fate repeated four years later and again he missed winning an automatic spot on the 2008 team by the fraction of a point and was named an alternate again.
The disappointment once again nearly saw him considering quitting the sport, before he returned with renewed vigour and dedication. He finished second on parallel bars and third in the all-around, rings and vault in the weighted and combined rankings at the US national championships and Olympic trials.
And when Hamm withdrew after his injury problem, Bhavsar was promptly drafted to replace the Olympic champion.
"You never know whether all the hard work and blood, sweat and tears will pay off," Bhavsar said. "But this restores my faith in all the hard work I've done inside and outside of the gym."
Photograph: Greg Trott/Getty Images
