Kexin picks uneven bars title
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
BEIJING, Aug. 18: China's He Kexin clinched the uneven bars gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games Monday.
He, who scored the same 16.725 points with runner-up Nastia Liukin from the United States, claimed the title under a tie-break rule.
He's teammate Yang Yilin settled for the bronze for 16.650 points.
It's host China's seventh gymnastics gold medal at the Beijing Games.
He and Liukin started with the same difficulty value of 7.7 points, the second highest in the competition.
Under the tie-break rule, if two gymnasts earn the same score on a same difficulty value, then the average of the three lowest of the 4 counting B-jury deductions will be applied, instead of the average of 4 B-jury deductions.
"I know nothing about the tie-break rule. I had thought I tied with Liukin," said a happy He.
The 16-year-old, who was making her Olympic debut, said she was nervous as the first one to take to the floor.
"My hands even shaken. But I tried to focus on my movements instead of thinking about whether I can win a medal," she said.
He said she felt better as it's her third competition at the Beijing Olympics. In the qualifications, she almost failed to make the final when she felt from the bar in qualifications.
But she did not let her second chance slip. He impressed the judges with difficult connections and dazzling tumbling, on difficulty of 7.7 points.
Liukin, the all-around Olympic gold medallist at the Beijing Games, picked her third silver medal at the Games, following one for floor exercise and the other for team event.
He, who scored the same 16.725 points with runner-up Nastia Liukin from the United States, claimed the title under a tie-break rule.
He's teammate Yang Yilin settled for the bronze for 16.650 points.
It's host China's seventh gymnastics gold medal at the Beijing Games.
He and Liukin started with the same difficulty value of 7.7 points, the second highest in the competition.
Under the tie-break rule, if two gymnasts earn the same score on a same difficulty value, then the average of the three lowest of the 4 counting B-jury deductions will be applied, instead of the average of 4 B-jury deductions.
"I know nothing about the tie-break rule. I had thought I tied with Liukin," said a happy He.
The 16-year-old, who was making her Olympic debut, said she was nervous as the first one to take to the floor.
"My hands even shaken. But I tried to focus on my movements instead of thinking about whether I can win a medal," she said.
He said she felt better as it's her third competition at the Beijing Olympics. In the qualifications, she almost failed to make the final when she felt from the bar in qualifications.
But she did not let her second chance slip. He impressed the judges with difficult connections and dazzling tumbling, on difficulty of 7.7 points.
Liukin, the all-around Olympic gold medallist at the Beijing Games, picked her third silver medal at the Games, following one for floor exercise and the other for team event.