Q1: Has winning your first National title sunk in yet?

PAUL HAMM: I've been thinking about it the last few days that it was possible. Coming into the meet, it was my goal. But after halftime basically, you see that you're in first place. You kind of realize it even more so, then when you first started.

Q2: Did you come in expecting to win?

PAUL HAMM: It was a goal of mine when I came here to win. I can't say that I expected to win, but I thought I could win.

Q3: Did the fact that everyone seemed to focus more on Blaine Wilson and Sean Townsend give you an extra incentive to do well?

PAUL HAMM: Yeah, I think a little bit. Just the fact that Blaine always … he goes into the meet giving off the vibe that he's going to win. You know that that's what he is thinking. He's not going into the meet to give it up to someone else after winning five times. So it does help me a little bit, maybe that will help the younger guys later on for me.

Q4: What is it like to beat the five-time champ, Blaine Wilson?

PAUL HAMM: It means a lot to have both Blaine and Sean here competing and be healthy. Blaine hasn't been beat at Nationals a lot, so it's a big accomplishment for me. So I feel like I'm at the point in my gymnastics, where Blaine and I are very equal and where it would be a toss-up between the both of us.

Q5: Did it help to compete in the same group with Blaine?

PAUL HAMM: I think it was a lot of fun actually competing right after him because I could see what he was doing and where he was. If he were on the other side of the arena, I wouldn't know what was happening, so that helped a little. But still, when Blaine gets done with the high bar with a 9.9 routine, it might not be the best thing actually.

Q6: Did you and Blaine talk any during the meet?

PAUL HAMM: Maybe, just a little bit. We're usually just kind of cheering each other on. We're not really enemies or anything; we're teammates.

Q7: What about the crowd booing your high bar score and what did Blaine say to you then?

PAUL HAMM: I thought it was funny, but it was probably a fair score, because my start value was only a 9.8. But Blaine, I think he said to me, "You're the crowd favorite now." Or something like that.

Q8: Bart Connor was 17 when he won his first, so you're not the youngest, but you're one of the youngest. How does that feel?

PAUL HAMM: It feels great. It's been my goal ever since I was a little kid to be the national champion. From here I want to go to the World Championships in 2003 and hopefully maybe I can get an all-around medal there. Just be consistent.

Q9: When did you feel like you had the title clinched?

PAUL HAMM: The time I felt like I had it clinched was after the high bar. Because I knew I couldn't make that big of a mistake on floor exercise that would cost me my lead. I knew then that I had a pretty good shot at winning.

Q10: When did you turn the corner in becoming a national champion contender?

PAUL HAMM: I think this whole last year has given me that confidence. Every since I got back from my ankle injury and competed in the World Championships in the fall, I felt like I was becoming one of those guys that people were starting to look at. I competed at the Winter Cup, placed second there. I competed at the American Cup, placed second there. Then competed at the Pacific Alliance and won, which is a really big international competition, so I started to build and build. By the time this summer came around, it felt like I was becoming one of those guys that everyone is looking at to possibly win.