Nemov takes all-around gym gold, at last

"I don’t believe this has happened. I was expecting it, but I didn’t believe it."

Nemov finished with 58.474 points with Yang second at 58.361 and Ukraine’s Oleksandr Beresh third at 58.212, edging Ivan Ivankov of Belarus by .188 for bronze.

"Nemov is the best," Russian team manager Leonid Arkaev said.

"The thing he showed was he’s best of these Olympics. He deserved to win." The champion, however, was much harsher on himself than his mentor.

"I was performing like an automation," Nemov said.

"I could have fallen at any moment. That’s how I feel about it. Destiny was on my side and I ended up with the gold. I have no idea how. I just do my best from beginning to end."

Nemov’s victory came two days after Russia’s disappointing third-place team finals finish behind China and Ukraine.

Also providing inspiration was the memory of his 1996 near miss.

Despite an injured Left shoulder, Nemov lost the Atlanta all-around title to China’s Li Xiaoshuang by only .049, the closest all-around fight since 1984. Named one of the 50 "Most Beautiful Guys in the World" by Young and Modern magazine in 1997, Nemov now has a son and admits he lives a somewhat tamer lifestyle than four years ago.

"Sometimes you go to bed at two in the morning," he said.

"Sometimes you want to have a beer. That’s part of my lifestyle."

Nemov won six medals at the 1996 Olympics, the most of any athlete at the Atlanta Games, and he has a chance to win seven medals here, having qualified for five apparatus finals that will be contested Sunday and Monday.

The reigning Olympic vault champion and world floor exercise and pommel horse champion began with a 9.787 on the high bar, followed with a 9.80 on the floor and added a 9.775 on horse.

Most rivals faded, but Yang kept on the pressure.

When Nemov scored only 9.687 in the fourth rotation on his weakest event, the rings, and stumbled on the landing of his vault, Yang had hope entering the final rotation.

But Nemov performed brilliantly on the parallel bars for a 9.775 that forced Yang to score a 9.865 on the pommel horse to win When judges award him 9.750, Nemov had his title.

"From my perspective, although the team medal is important, it’s important to demonstrate my ability through this individual medal," Yang said.

"In qualifying I made mistakes. This time I paid more attention to picking up my score. I performed very well, showed my skill."

Ivankov, who tore his right Achilles tendon two weeks before the 1996 Olympics, was not heartbroken at his medal near miss.

"That was great. That’s all my best. What I can do I did," Ivankov said.

"I don’t feel like I lost too much. I did all my best. It’s sport. A little bit and you’re out of a medal. But it’s important to compete. I haven’t given up."

The 25-year-old was pictured in gold paint on the Olympic preview issue of Sports Illustrated, but he qualified a disappointing 11th and his medal dreams now depend on apparatus finals in rings and parallel bars.