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| Yang Wei of China gestures after winning gymnastics artistic men's individual all-around final of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China, Aug. 14, 2008. Yang Wei claimed the title with a score of 94.575.(Xinhua Photo) |
By Sportswriter Chen Yu
BEIJING, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- China's all-conquering gymnast Yang Wei won the men's all-around title with a convincing 94.575 points here Thursday at the Beijing Olympics.
Yang, a three-time Olympian with two world championships all-around gold under his belt, stormed to his first Olympic all-around victory by beating runner-up Kohei Uchimura by 2.60 points. Caranobe Benoit of France settled for bronze.
It's also China's second gymnastics men's all-around title after Li Xiaoshuang's at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.
Surviving his nearly-failed last apparatus of horizontal bar, his weakest of all six apparatus which produced his lowest 14.775 points, a jubilant Yang celebrated even before his final score was accumulated, waving the Chinese national flag to the cheering home fans.
Yang, well-known for his awesome preciseness of movements, started with a comparatively plain start on floor exercise when he stepped outside the marked area and ended with a below-average 15.250 points.
He pushed two blocks up from 10th to 8th after pommel horse routine. On rings, the 28-year-old launched a strong surge, amid deafening cheers and applause from home fans for his unbelievable straightness.
Rings produced 16.625 points and took Yang up to second place only after Yang Taeyoung of South Korea. Vault sent him further to top when he scored 16.550, and a 16.100 points on parallel bars further extended his lead.
But horizontal bar nearly brought Yang a last-minute defeat as he was seen on the verge of loosing grip of the bar. When he survived, the crowd burst into cheers and chants "Yang Wei, Yang Wei". Broad smile came to his face for the first time.
"I had experience such as excelling on five apparatus but failed the last. I also had experience of losing the first but succeeding on the remaining five. Things of such kind cannot affect me any more," said Yang.
"The gold medal is meaningful because it's China's second men's all-around gold and also the second under the coach Huang Yubin," he said.
Yang and China's first men's all-around gold medalist Li Xiaoshuang are both from China's Hubei province. "I am happy as it's the second men's all-around gold medal from Xiantao city of Hubei province," he said.
Yang's teammate Chen Yibing, a rings specialist, tried hard to pull back from a crushing start on pommel horse.
He dropped shortly after his mount and placed 23rd. But the highest 16.650 points on his specialty sent him to 10th and he even made it to the third with consistent efforts.
But a fatal blow came after he fell from the horizontal bar. He even did not finish his routine and finished in last place.
Kohei Uchimura also nearly ruined his chance after disastrous performance on pommel horse. He dropped twice and scored as low as 13.275 points. But his stable performance throughout the rest of the competition brought him to second berth among the 24 finals.
"I exhausted myself in the team competition and also has injuries. I can feel weakness and injuries during my pommel horse routine. So I gave up today's competition. I must save my energy for my individual titles, " said Chen Yibing after the competition.
He also said his teammate Yang is above the field and deserves the gold. "He trained so hard for so many years and the gold should be his," he said.
Silver medalist Kohei said he was happy with a silver medal after a slack start.
"I think I was in a very bad situation (after pommel horse). I thought 'I won't be able to get a medal.' Therefore, at that moment, I didn't think about anything except for continuing the competition," he said.
For Caranobe, the bronze is a sheer surprise. "It's very special and even in my dreams I never said I would have a bronze medal. I don't know what to say."
He said horizontal bar was crucial for his winning. "The horizontal bar was important, because I'm not good at it. I was stressed about it but now I'm happy."
On contrary to the French's good luck on horizontal bar, Fabian Hambuchem of Germany had really bad luck on the apparatus, his specialty.
The horizontal bar world champion unexpectedly dropped from the bar and lost his last hope for making the top three.
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| Yang Wei of China performs on the floor during gymnastics artistic men's individual all-around final of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China, Aug. 14, 2008.(Xinhua Photo) |
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