Chinese men storm to gymnastics team gold at Beijing Olympic Games
12/8/2008 17:04
China's formidable male gymnasts stormed to a long-awaited Olympic team
gold medal before an ecstatic home crowd in Beijing today.
They claimed the
title at 286.125 points, beating defending Olympic champion Japan to second
place by a comfortable margin of 7.25 points. The United States took the bronze
in 275.850 points.
Routines from the Chinese squad featuring three world
champions were met with deafening cheers and applause, as the hosts determined
to re-claim the Olympic team crown which they lost to Japan in Athens four years
ago.
Except for a brief tie with the Japanese on the first apparatus of floor
exercise, in which the hosts trailed by only 0.05 points, the Chinese kept their
edge throughout the rest of the competition, with start values and stability
obviously above the field.
Defending Olympic champion Japan suffered from a
string of blunders, and only secured their grip on the silver medal in the last
rotation, coming from behind to overtake the Americans by 3.025 points.
The
injury-plagued United States team, silver-medalist in Athens, brought surprise
as all its team members, including the replacements to twin bothers Paul Hamm
and Paul Hamm, performed far better than in the qualifications.
The Chinese
won their first-ever men's team gold at the Sydney Games in 2000 but failed to
build on the achievement in Athens, losing to arch-rivals Japan.
They bounced
back with terrific results in the past two championships, pocketing five gold
medals in Stuttgart last year and a record eight the previous year in Arhus
including the most coveted team titles.
Xinhua
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