Chinese gymnasts win expected gold

Minus the Hamms, the Americans excelled to a bronze finish.

BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese men stood on the podium biting their medals. Yes, guys, they are real. And yes, they are Olympic gold.

The bronzes around the Americans’ necks must have been just as tasty.

China’s triumph Tuesday was as much a vindication as a coronation. It ended a four-year journey built on the failures of Athens, and carried through a crucible of unfathomable expectations. The Chinese arrived at the Beijing Games as such overwhelming favorites that anything less than a spectacular gold-medal performance would not have been enough.

Mission accomplished — magnificently.

“After four years and many nightmares, I have white hair,” China coach Huang Yubin said. “It doesn’t matter. The gold medal is what matters.”

Not that bronze doesn’t immeasurably brighten the outlook for a U.S. team that was in tatters a few days ago. Without the Hamm twins, both sidelined with injuries, the Americans had no Olympic experience and, according to many, no chance to medal. So all the survivors did was finish behind silver medalist Japan and ahead of some more-heralded opponents.

“It bothers me a lot, especially if people from home kind of put down our team, saying, ‘Count the U.S. out. We can’t wait to see how China, Japan and Germany do,’ ” Jonathan Horton said, both hands clutching his medal. “I wish more people in the U.S. believed in us like we believed in us. Now I hope more people realize the U.S. is a force to be reckoned with.”

Halfway through the six rotations, after Yang Wei and Chen Yibing approached perfection on still rings, everyone else pretty much was chasing silver and bronze.

Not that the Chinese got cocky. Their routines on vault, parallel bars and, in their crowning achievement, high bar, were star turns worthy of Broadway.

The Japanese needed to rally in the final two rotations to pass the Americans for silver.

“We actually had eight camps and we tried to increase our difficulty at each of them and we couldn’t catch up,” Japanese coach Koji Gushiken said. “We want to learn from the Chinese and get better.”

What U.S. gymnastics fans should have learned is that a lack of Olympic experience and a disjointed buildup to Beijing merely made Horton and company more resolute. From Raj Bhavsar’s opening rings routine to Sasha Artemev’s flashy finish on pommel horse, the Americans were in the medals hunt.

When the bronze officially was theirs, the celebration — while not nearly the rollicking rejoicing of the Chinese — was vigorous. And almost defiant.

“I’d have bet on our country any day,” Joey Hagerty said. “It’s a team that’ll never give up.”

The bronze was won despite the absence of reigning Olympic champ Paul Hamm, who withdrew from the team on July 28 because of hand and shoulder injuries, and Morgan Hamm, who dropped out last Thursday with an ankle injury.

Artemev replaced Morgan Hamm; Bhavsar had replaced Paul Hamm.