BEIJING -- Less than two weeks ago there was hope the Hamm twins would be together for a third Olympics. They will be ... as spectators.

On Wednesday, Morgan Hamm sent a message for Paul to fly to Beijing to lend his brotherly support. A day later, Morgan pulled out of the Summer Games due to a left ankle injury, effectively ending his gymnastics career and leaving the Olympic team reeling.

"We'll be able to root the team on and be here together," Morgan Hamm said of his brother, who was the defending all-around champion at the Olympics. "It'll be nice to have him around to console me and for me to console him a little bit."

Morgan Hamm said he has bone spurs in his ankle, which is causing him extreme pain. He also has tibial tendinitis. Hamm said he received a cortisone shot to try and alleviate the pain in the ankle, but it was ineffective.

"This is something for me that is very tough because it's the end of my career," Morgan Hamm said. "It's not the way I planned it."

It was on July 28 when Paul Hamm withdrew from the squad because his broken right hand had not sufficiently healed enough for him to compete. Now the U.S. team is left with all first-time Olympians.

The replacement for Morgan is Sasha Artemev. Rings specialist Kevin Tan is the captain, while the remainder of the team consists of Raj Bhavsar, Joe Hagerty, Jonathan Horton and Justin Spring.

"Morgan Hamm is an irreplaceable athlete," Horton said. "He's an incredible gymnast. He's done so many things for this sport. He's just a great ambassador."

The announcement that Morgan was pulling out of the Olympics was disclosed while the women's gymnastics squad was wrapping up its introductory press conference at the media center. The entire men's side came to give support to their injured teammate.

"It really was a team effort and these guys can go out there and get a medal, compete with anybody else in the world," Morgan Hamm said. "I really believe they're going to show the heart of America, here in Beijing."

For Morgan, he was expected to retire anyway after these Olympics, but after sustaining a chest injury and obtaining a warning from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for not getting proper medical clearance for an anti-inflammatory shot, and now the ankle injury, he's been forced to the sidelines one last time.

"Things do happen, and in a sport like gymnastics injuries occur and you have to deal with it," Morgan Hamm said. "You have to try to overcome those injuries and get back on the competition field. That's what I've been doing here. Obviously it hasn't worked out the way I wanted it to."

The news of the withdrawal on Thursday hit the team hard, with each member sitting at a long table on the stage at the press conference room displaying long faces.

"You can see there is a bit of a grieving process," men's coach Kevin Mazeika said. "It shows how close this team is."