Men's Gymnastics: Chinese Routines Earn Gold, US settles for Bronze

They may have finished a disappointing fifth in Athens four years ago, but this time the Chinese were prepared. Spinning and twisting in front of a capacity crowd at the National Indoor Stadium, they comfortably earned the gold medal they had been eyeing for the last four years. Athens winners Japans settled for silver while the United States claimed the bronze.

China topped the table by earning 286.125 points. Japan was nowhere close, finishing with 278.875. The United States team was weakened by the loss of two experienced gymnasts to injury. But the Americans were not low on spirit, exhibiting fist pumps and bear hugs on their way to a somewhat unexpected bronze.

All Chinese perfomers on the vault and pararallel bars scored a perfect 16. Vault expert Li Xiaopeng scored a sky-high 16.775 on the most difficult vault. His routine included a round-off and half twist on to the table, then twisted two and a half times in the air with one full flip. The Chinese probably benefited from a new scoring scheme that rewarded a commitment to difficult routines. And it became clear pretty soon that the world champions of 2006 and 2007 would romp to an Olympic gold too.