CHINA won its first women’s team gymnastics Olympic gold medal yesterday capitalizing on a mistake-ridden U.S. performance before an enthralled audience in Beijing.
The win avenged China’s narrow loss to the United States at last year’s world championships and added to the team gold claimed by the home nation’s men’s team Tuesday.
Defending Olympic champion Romania won bronze but looked a shadow of the side that won four women’s gymnastics gold medals in Athens four years ago.
China finished on 188.9 points, 2.375 points ahead of the United States on 186.525, with Romania on 181.525.
With eight teams in the finals, China and the United States were paired together as they went through the four women’s apparatus, making for high drama as the teams slugged it out head-to-head for the Olympic title.
They began on the vault, an apparatus seen as a strength for a Chinese team featuring world champion Cheng Fei.
Cheng managed a 16.0 but U.S. star Shawn Johnson matched her and the United States took a 0.6-point lead into the second round.
Strong performances from Deng Linlin and Jiang Yuyuan meant Cheng needed just 13.075 to seal gold and make amends for her earlier error.
A hush fell over the crowd as she prepared for her routine, erupting into a roar of approval after a dynamic performance to traditional Chinese music that was awarded 15.45 and clinched the gold.(SD-Agencies)