Steadiness wins gymnastics gold for Yang

BEIJING, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Yang Wei of China avoided the problems that befell a host of would-be challengers Thursday and confirmed his status as the world's best gymnast.

A two-time world champion competing in his third Olympics, Yang captured the all-around gold medal after leading China to the team title two days earlier.

Yang did not have the best score in any of the six routines, but he displayed the steadiness his rivals lacked.

The United States' Jonathan Horton, for instance, botched his very first routine on the pommel horse and spent the rest of the event trying to catch up. He eventually finished ninth.

Japan's Hiroyuki Tomita might have won a gold medal, but his hopes were dashed by a bad fall from the rings. Even so, he wound up fourth. And a good start by South Korea's Tae Young Yang gave way to poor performances down the stretch.

That left the medal race wide open and Kohei Uchimura of Japan capitalized by finishing second, despite a flawed effort on the horse.

The biggest surprise of all came from Benoit Caranobe of France, who took advantage of the carnage around him to win the bronze. He wept with joy as the final results were posted.

Yang showed little emotion, however, as the crowd voiced their pleasure for his triumph. He won the silver in this event eight years ago in Sydney, but finished seventh in Athens. After two straight world titles, the pressure was on him to perform before the home crowd and, like so many Chinese athletes in these Games, he came through.