Olympic gold medalist Paul Hamm could begin moderate gymnastics as early as Friday, about two weeks before he has to show he will be physically able to compete at the Beijing Games.

Hamm, who broke a bone in his hand May 22, will have another X-ray tomorrow. If Dr. Lawrence Lubbers, the hand specialist who operated on Hamm, likes what he sees, he'll give Hamm clearance to push his training.

"Starting Friday, I think it's time to start ramping him up," Lubbers said yesterday.

"We'll be taking some things that are probably not so stressful on his hands, like giants on high bar, let him start swinging around. Get him up on parallel bars and doing some maneuvers that won't involve too much twisting."

Hamm broke the fourth metacarpal in his right hand in the closing seconds of his parallel bars routine at the national championships. During surgery May 27, Lubbers inserted a titanium plate and nine small screws to repair the break.

Hamm has been seven to 10 days ahead of schedule in his recovery and, in a video on his and twin brother Morgan's Web site, can be seen doing flips, push-ups and strength moves on the still rings and parallel bars.

Boxing

Light flyweight Luis Yanez was kicked off the U.S. Olympic boxing team for skipping three weeks of residency training without getting permission or even telling USA Boxing where he was, national team coach Dan Campbell claims.

USA Boxing removed Yanez from the Beijing squad after the 106-pound fighter refused to return to the team's training program in Colorado Springs for most of June. Campbell said Yanez also avoided contact with his national team coaches, who became concerned for his safety.

"I gave him every opportunity, and if people knew all the stuff that he has done, they would be amazed," Campbell said. "He's one of the biggest liars I've ever met."

Cycling

Longtime American cycling star George Hincapie -- best known for helping Lance Armstrong win the Tour de France seven consecutive times -- was announced as one of nine discretionary selections to the U.S. Olympic team.

Hincapie, 35, becomes the first U.S. racer to make five Olympic cycling teams. No other American has raced a bike in more than three.

Elsewhere

Speed skater Joey Cheek presented a letter signed by more than 130 current and former Olympians and Olympic hopefuls from 22 countries. Addressed to President Bush, the president of China and other world leaders, it urges the international community to do what it can to persuade Sudan to observe the ancient tradition of the Olympic truce during the Beijing Games.

The Olympic truce dates to the ancient games in Greece, when fighting was halted to ensure athletes had safe passage to travel to and from the competitions. More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced in fighting in the western Sudanese region since ethnic African tribesmen took up arms in 2003.