By Nancy Armour
The Associated Press

ATHENS - He had to be perfect and hope no one else was.

Even Paul Hamm's coach figured it was over: "I thought he had no odds."

A fall on his vault landing sent Hamm stumbling into the judges' table and all the way down to 12th place in the all-around gymnastics final.

"I thought, 'That's it. I'm done,' " he said.

Far from it. In one of the most amazing comebacks in Olympic history, Hamm performed the two most spectacular routines of his career Wednesday to win the gold medal by the closest margin ever in the event.

"I'm happy right now. Shocked, actually," said Hamm, the first American man to win the Olympic all-around. "To be in first place after that kind of mistake, I thought there was no chance to win."

The final competitor of the night, Hamm needed a 9.825 on the high bar, his best event, to tie Kim Dae-eun of South Korea for gold - and he was dazzling. The highlight of his routine are three straight release moves, and he did them perfectly.

His dismount was perfect, and he hit the mat with a solid thud before thrusting his fists into the air and throwing his head back in jubilation. He waved at the roaring crowd and then sprinted off the podium clapping his hands while his coach, Miles Avery, jumped up and down on the sideline.

Avery grabbed Hamm in a bearhug when he came off the podium. Hamm then dropped into a chair, overwhelmed by what he had done. When his score of 9.837 flashed on the scoreboard, the arena went into a frenzy.

"I thought I could win silver, maybe bronze," said the 21-year-old from Waukesha, Wis. "I didn't think I could win gold until Miles said, 'You're the Olympic champion,' and all I could think to say was, 'No way!' "

Hamm finished with 57.823 points, beating Kim by .012. The previous closest margin in the event was .017 by Leon Stukelj of Yugoslavia over Robert Prazak of Czechoslovakia in the 1924 Games.

"I thought maybe I could get first," Kim said. "I'm rather disappointed and angry, in a way."

Ioan Suciu of Romania wasn't happy, either, after finishing 0.126 points behind bronze medalist Yang Tae-young of South Korea.

"The only thing I can say is that the USA got something more than it deserved," Suciu said.

But as defending world champion, Hamm is going to get the benefit of the doubt. And really, anyone who watched his last two routines could hardly argue with the results.

"It was one of the most amazing comebacks in gymnastics history," said U.S. teammate Brett McClure, who finished ninth. "He's so determined not to fail."