Nastia Liukin's bid for a second gold medal fell short by an inconceivably narrow margin Monday, as the recently crowned Olympic all-around champion received the exact same score as China's He Kexin for her uneven-bar routine.
Both gymnasts finished with 16.725 points in the apparatus final, held at National Indoor Stadium. And the panel of judges arrived at the final score in the same way: Awarding both Liukin and Kexin a "start" value of 7.7 and an execution score of 9.025. Added together, that makes 16.725.
But the gold went to He, and the silver to Liukin under an obscure tie-break provision that left U.S. officials scrambling for an explanation even as the three medal winners marched onto the floor for the medal ceremony.
He's teammate Yang Yilin took bronze (16.65).
He is among the three Chinese gymnasts who age ahs been a source of controversy in recent weeks. Listed as 16, reports have stated her age as young as 14.
Monday was the second of three nights of finals in specific events at National Indoor Stadium, with gold medals at stake on the uneven bars and men's still rings and vault.
Only the eight athletes with the highest scores in the Aug. 9-10 qualifying sessions were eligible to compete. No country was allowed to field more than two athletes on a given apparatus.
Earlier, Chinese gymnasts won gold and silver on the rings. Reigning world champion Chen Yibing scored 16.600 points to claim the gold, with countryman Yang Wei, the 2008 Olympic all-around champion, taking silver (16.425). Oleksandr Vorobiov of the Ukraine took bronze (16.325).
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