EDMONTON, Alberta -- A little known Romanian gymnast stole a bit of Russian thunder and a gold medal with a near-flawless floor exercise routine that prevented a Soviet women from a clean sweep of Tuesday's individual finals at the World University Games.
Liliana Balan, a pixie with a pony-tail and a high-flying tumbling routine that ended only with the music, was awarded a 9.90 in the floor exercise, the highest mark of the evening.
World champion Natalia Yurchenko captured gold medals in three events, including the vault, the uneven bars and the beam. But the Russian, suffering from a leg injury, missed made two mistakes during her floor exercises and finished fifth.
On the beam, Yurchenko's total of 19.50 points was .20 ahead of silver medalist Wen Jia of China and .25 points over third-place Anita Botnen of Canada.
Yurchenko said later she had been very nervous during the floor exercises and had been unable to practice her routine. 'I was hoping to go through all the events pefectly, but because of my leg injury, I could not do as well as I hoped,' she said.
Yurchenko, 18, has been competing since the age of 10 but found the Games her hardest competition yet. She said the competition gave her an opportunity to view some of the younger and stronger gymnasts that will be a threat in later years.
Mihaela Riciu of Romania was a triple winner Tuesday, collecting a silver medal in the floor exercise and bronze medals in the uneven bars and vault.
Elena Veselova of Russia picked up a silver medal in the vault and a bronze in the floor exercises.
Anita Botnen, a member of the Canadian contingent that made its debut in the Games, won a bronze medal in the beam. The team collected a bronze Sunday in the all-round competition.
Jana Gajdosova of Czechoslovakia, silver medalist on the uneven bars, picked up her country's only medal in the four day gymnastic event.
