Source: Xinhua

08-13-2008 14:27

Special Report:   2008 Beijing Olympic Games

BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese women gymnasts won their first ever Olympic team gold in Wednesday's final of the Beijing Olympic Games, making a historic breakthrough expected by China for decades.

China's Cheng Fei, Yang Yilin, Li Shanshan, He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan and Deng Linlin(L to R) celebrate their victory during the awarding ceremony for gymnastics artistic women's team final of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China, Aug. 13, 2008. The Chinese team claimed the title of the event with a score of 188.900. (Xinhua/Ren Long)
China's Cheng Fei, Yang Yilin, Li Shanshan, He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan 
and Deng Linlin(L to R) celebrate their victory during the awarding 
ceremony for gymnastics artistic women's team final of Beijing 2008 
Olympic Games at National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China, Aug. 13, 
2008. The Chinese team claimed the title of the event with a score 
of 188.900. (Xinhua/Ren Long)

With deafening hail and applause, Cheng Fei finished her routine in the last event of floor exercise and scored 15.450 points, bringing the gold to the host country which accumulated a winning total of 188.900 points.

The silver went to the United States which collected 186.525 points. Romania took the bronze with 181.525 points.

As sports analysts put it before the tournament, both China and the United States launched their rush to the gold when the competition kicked off at 10:30 a.m. (0230 GMT) in the National Indoor Stadium.

The United States dethroned the Chinese team in the World Championships last year and had been expecting their first Olympic team title in a foreign country.

The girls from the two countries were all dealt a blow in balance beam, their third event of the final. Leading Chinese athlete Cheng fell from the beam when she was the first to compete. Alicia Sacramone also dropped off the apparatus from the very beginning of her routine.

Cheng's teammate Deng Linlin and Li Shanshan went through the harsh psychological test and gave the Chinese team a leading position of one point.

With the tremendous support of home fans, the Chinese team put an end to the duel in the floor exercise with three next-to-perfect routines, extending the lead to 2.375.

Girls of the United States celebrate during the awarding ceremony for gymnastics artistic women's team final of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China, Aug. 13, 2008. The US team ranked the second with a score of 186.525. (Xinhua/Ren Long)
Girls of the United States celebrate during the awarding ceremony for 
gymnastics artistic women's team final of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games 
at National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China, Aug. 13, 2008. The US 
team ranked the second with a score of 186.525. (Xinhua/Ren Long)

The U.S. girls failed to achieve their rush to the historic gold at the last moment. As the first one to represent her country in floor exercise, Sacramone rolled backward and landed on her bottom after a series of somersaults at the very beginning of her routine. The girl almost burst into tears after her competition.

Nastia Liukin and U.S. all-around star Shawn Johnson also made mistakes in landing in the floor exercise which is their speciality.