Liukin, Johnson quite a 1-2 punch for Americans

(Quinn Rooney / Getty Images) (Left to right): Silver medalist Shawn Johnson of the United States, gold medalist Nastia Liukin of the United States, and bronze medalist Yang Yilin of China pose together after the women's individual all-around artistic gymnastics final.

By John Powers, Globe Staff | August 15, 2008

BEIJING - Nastia Liukin, who had played understudy to Shawn Johnson for a year, took center stage today, winning the gymnastics gold medal in the Olympic women's all-around by six-10ths of a point ahead of her teammate, rival, and buddy, who'd come in as the world champion.

It was the second straight time the Americans had won the title and the first time they'd ever won two medals in the event at the Games. It was a sweet victory for Liukin, who'd lost the 2005 world crown by a thousandth of a point to teammate Chellsie Memmel and finished fifth in last year's global all-around after recovering from ankle surgery.

"Everything pays off for this very moment," Liukin said. "You can only think of good things."

This time, Liukin, whose father/coach Valeri won two gold medals for the Soviet Union at the 1988 Games, was at the top of her game, beating Johnson on uneven bars and balance beam and tying her on floor exercise, the final event, to prevail, 63.325-62.725, with China's Yang Yilin (62.650) taking the bronze.

"We both supported each other 100 percent, and we just wanted to go out there and give it our all and have fun, because this is the games," Liukin said. "There is nothing bigger or greater than this."

Added Johnson: "I gave my heart and soul out there today. Nastia deserved the gold."

After settling for silver behind China in Wednesday's team competition, the US had an excellent chance not only to win gold in the all-around but to go 1-2 with Johnson and Liukin, who came in as the top two qualifiers. No other countries but the Soviet Union and Romania had managed that.

As they did in the team event, the Americans and Chinese went head to head on each apparatus, with Yang and Jiang Yuyuan up for the hosts (captain Cheng Fei didn't qualify), alongside Russia's Anna Pavlova and Ksenia Semenova. They began on vault, which is one of Johnson's specialties. And though she took a big step forward on the landing of her Yurchenko 2 1/2, the difficulty of the vault earned her a score of 15.875, putting her six-10ths ahead of Pavlova and another tenth ahead of Yang, with Liukin fourth.

After the first rotation, though, the leader was Romania's Steliana Nistor, who extracted a 15.975 on bars. And though Liukin nailed her typically elegant routine there for a 16.650 and a 31.675 total, Yang outpointed her with a 16.725 to take the lead (31.900) by a quarter of a point midway through the competition.

In fifth behind Nistor (31.525) and Semenova (31.225) but still well within striking distance was Johnson (31.150), who stuck her bars landing for a 15.275 and emerged with a huge grin. Bars is not her best event but Johnson is a sturdy presence on beam, where her unshakable focus and low center of gravity serve her well.

She performed as if her feet were lined with Velcro strips, and despite a small wobble took away a 16.050 and moved up to third place (47.200). But when Liukin followed with a spot-on routine for a 16.125, she took over the lead (47.800) from Yang (47.650).

So it came down to the finale on floor, where the Americans had come to grief in the team event, losing their chance for the gold medal. They had an advantage this time, though, since Johnson is the world champion on the apparatus and Liukin a former medalist and since Yang wasn't one of the three contenders China had sent up in the team competition.

When Yang took a 15.000, the gold medal came down to Liukin and Johnson, who are the friendliest of rivals ("Love you," they'll end text messages to each other). Liukin, who'd stepped out of bounds during the team event, was superb this time, earning a 15.525. Now the moment belonged to Johnson, who needed to score higher than 16 to win.

She tumbled her heart out, sticking the landing on every pass. Once the music stopped, Johnson flashed a beatific smile, came off for a huge hug from Liukin, and burst into tears of relief. While they waited for the scores to go up, both she and Liukin were hyperventilating. When the board showed 15.525, the same score as her teammate, the day and redemption belonged to Liukin, who sobbed joyfully on the medal stand, and the US side had some history to celebrate.

"I feel like this journey has been so long," Liukin said. "There have been so many battles and injuries, just to be at the Olympic Games is amazing."

Materials from the Associated Press were used. John Powers can be reached at jpowers@globe.com.