SYDNEY – All great warriors have to wave goodbye, sooner or later.

Some, like Jordan, Elway and Gretzky, have their swan songs set to music and broadcast around the world. Others, those without television contracts, endorsement deals and Hollywood agents, simply pack up their gear, shake hands with teammates and quietly move on. Last night in Sydney’s Super Dome in Olympic Park, John Roethlisberger, a true warrior of sport and captain of the U.S. men’s gymnastics team, started packing his bags.

After 10 years on the national team, three Olympic teams and countless years of getting up every morning for practice, Roethlisberger is sleeping late tomorrow. He’s waving goodbye to competitive gymnastics at the ripe old age of 30, but unlike Jordan and Elway, didn’t get the luxury of walking away on top. Few do.

Roethlisberger’s chances of a miracle medal literally slipped through the hands of the team on the last apparatus, the high bar. Sure-handed Paul Hamm fell from the bar twice and team sparkplug Blaine Wilson slipped off once. With the three “thumps,” USA’s chances of bringing home a bronze medal dimmed to dark.

So as Roethlisberger, who went after Hamm and Wilson, moved to start his high bar routine, he knew the chase was over. In little more than 30 seconds, his career would be, too.

“I just wanted the last routine to be good,” he would say later, most likely thinking about all those early morning practices, the nagging injuries, the friends he met along the way and what the heck he would do now with the extra four to six hours a day starting today.

When the routine was over, it was better than good. His 9.725 was his best score on the night. Listening to Roethlisberger talk about the team’s never-say-die attitude is both bittersweet and admirable.

The U.S. squad was outgunned from the start and the only six people in the arena who didn’t know it were on the U.S. team. The team didn’t have any quit but probably didn’t have any chance either. But they looked to their captain for inspiration and Roethlisberger never failed them.

Roethlisberger’s gymnastics pedigree is about as solid as you can get. His dad was on the 1968 squad and he is one of only six male U.S. gymnasts to appear in three Olympics. That alone should make his name at least as familiar to Americans as Bart Connor, Mitch Gaylord or Peter Vidmar. Except that Roethlisberger had poor timing – his teams didn’t win a single medal.

And for better or worse in this country, the entry price for immortality is winning. Forget that he was one of the best gymnasts in the world, ranked in the top 10 for floor exercise in 1995 and 1996 until he blew his knee out. He adapted his strengths to other apparatus, pommel horse and high bar, mostly. And he turned into a leader.

“He’s just an awesome guy,” said his team coach, Peter Kormann. “I’d jump in front of a truck for him.”

So would his teammates, who did practically that when there was no chance of winning. So Roethlisberger will take his wife, mom and friend, in town to root him on, to the nearby scenic Blue Mtns. today and relax. Bud Greenspan, the noted Olympic filmmaker has said many times that this country too often ignores those athletes who finish fourth, one place and often hundredths of a second, away from a medal, and fame.

“The true test of an athlete is how they succeed in life,” Greenspan said. It would be too trite to say that Roethlisberger won his medal last night by leading his team to the very end. It would be wrong, too. Who needs a medal when you have respect?