After two misses, Johnson finally gets her gold

8220;The thing I really am pleased with is she was a little under the weather and she still was able to do a wonderful routine.8221;

The world champion, who already had a silver behind fellow American Nastia Liukin in the all-around, and a silver on floor and in the team event, edged Liukin, who finished with a gold, three silvers and a bronze.

Cheng Fei of China took the bronze, giving China six women8217;s medals, two behind the Americans. 8220;This was the right ending to conclude the Olympic Games,8221; national team coordinator Martha Karolyi said. 8220;We proved the supremacy of US women8217;s gymnastics. 8220;I feel excellent about Johnson. I think she needed this so much. She proved she is absolutely a great balance beam gymnast.8221;

8220;It8217;s crazy,8221; the 16-year-old Johnson said. 8220;I remember seeing Nastia have hers from the all-around and it is so pretty. Silver is really pretty, too.

Chinese men unstoppable

CHINA8217;S men slammed the door on the rest of the gymnastics world on Tuesday when they obliterated their rivals to pick up two more gold medals at the Olympics.

On the final day of competition, Zou Kai became the most successful gymnast in Beijing when he scooped his third title with a high-flying performance on the horizontal bar. His triumph increased the host nation8217;s gold medal haul in the sport to nine, easily eclipsing their stash of five won during the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Zou8217;s success came hot on the heels of Li Xiaopeng8217;s triumphant showing on the parallel bars. After wobbling his way to a bronze in Athens, Li wiped away four years of hurt with his free-flowing movement on the bars. 8220;I think the significance of this is even greater because from my failure in 2004 to winning this gold medal today, I put in an enormous effort. It8217;s not at all easy. I am very proud of myself,8221; said Li, who had also won the crown in 2000. The last competitor on the apparatus, Li keenly watched what his challengers would produce. That benchmark was set at 16.250 by South Korea8217;s Yoo Won-chul in a contest littered with errors.

As soon as the 27-year-old Li mounted the apparatus, Yoo must have known the gold was out of reach.

Li executed a backward swinging somersault and seamlessly moved into a rigid handstand before sticking his dismount. The thud of his feet on the mat was soon drowned out by the crowd8217;s frenzied cheering and Li punched the air with a clenched fist long before the judges delivered their verdict of 16.450.

Among the first to congratulate Li was all-around champion Yang Wei, who had come into the arena especially to see his team mate compete.