Gymnastics - Hambuechen underlines his Olympic potential

By Pritha Sarkar

LAUSANNE (Reuters) - Germany's Fabian Hambuechen proved that he was no one hit wonder after he picked up a complete set of medals at the men's European gymnastics championships on Sunday.

Eight months after collecting a gold, silver and bronze at the world championships, he replicated the feat at the Europeans to underline his Olympic credentials.

"Last year I got the whole set at the worlds and this time I got the whole set in Europeans so I'm really happy about that. It's awesome," the 20-year-old told Reuters as he was surrounded by a posse of young autograph hunters.

"It would be nice to have whole set again (at the Beijing Olympics in August) but that will be very hard. I will do my best and hope to get a medal, which will be a dream."

A day after helping Germany to the silver medal in the team competition, the flamboyant gymnast picked up a bronze on the floor exercise before rounding off the competition with a victorious high flying routine on the horizontal bar.

His score of 16.025 allowed him to retain his bar title, ahead of former world champion Vlasios Maras, who won the silver with 15.850, and Aljaz Pegan of Slovenia.

Hambuechen saluted his vocal fans with a kiss before punching the air in delight.