Izbasa Takes Floor Last, Winds Up 1st

Izbasa's triumph was welcome news for Romania, which has seen its dominance of women's gymnastics eclipsed in recent years. And within moments, Izbasa received a congratulatory phone call from Romania's president.

No such honors will be bestowed on China's Cheng Fei, however. Cheng was considered the favorite to win two golds Sunday -- on vault, as a three-time world champion; and on floor exercise, as the top qualifier for the final.

But on the second of her two mandatory vaults, she fell forward on her shins upon landing, finishing with bronze. Cheng's floor routine was marred by an ugly tumble, and she ended up seventh and in tears.

Johnson took no joy in Cheng's struggles, or those of any other gymnast, even though each rival's setback helped solidify her temporary hold on the gold.

"Knowing everything that I've gone through to get here, I know that everybody else out there has given just that much or even more," Johnson said afterward. "I want them to do their best, because they've given their life and heart to this sport. Seeing anybody fall -- Cheng Fei fall -- it tears you apart just because if that was you, you'd know how painful it was."

But veteran gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi, in Beijing as an analyst for NBC, couldn't help but view each gymnast's routine -- and the scores that followed -- with a sharply critical eye.

In an interview after the competition, Karolyi expressed outrage that Cheng wasn't penalized more for her fall on the vault.

Had Cheng been scored more harshly (even by as little as 0.053 of a point), American Alicia Sacramone would have won bronze on the vault rather than finishing fourth.

"That was a highway robbery," Karolyi said of Cheng's bronze. "She shouldn't have won anything. You can't fall on your face and be rewarded with an Olympic medal, there's no way. There is no explanation."

North Korea's Hong Un Jong was the surprise gold medal winner, finishing with 15.650 points (the average of the gymnasts' two vaults). Taking silver was Oksana Chusovitina (15.575 points), a 33-year-old Uzbekistan native who competed for the Soviet Union before moving to Germany to seek medical care for her son's leukemia.

Cheng took the bronze with 15.562 points. And Sacramone's final score was 15.537.

In the men's pommel horse final, Sasha Artemev, 22, the lone American contender, started strong but flew off the apparatus with about 25 seconds remaining in his routine.

China won two golds, bringing its total gymnastics gold medals to five.

Xiao Qin won gold on the pommel house (15.875), and Zou Kai won gold on the floor exercise (16.050 points).

For Johnson and Liukin, the competition continues. Liukin will battle for a medal on the uneven bars on Monday and join Johnson in the balance beam finals on Tuesday. American Jonathan Horton of Houston competes on the horizontal bar on Tuesday.