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STUTTGART, Germany: The United States claimed the
first gold of the world gymnastics championships here on Wednesday
when they won the women’s team title for the second time in a
drama-filled finale.
Defending champions China had to
settle for silver with two-time Olympic champions Romania winning
bronze.
The US led three of the four
rotations to score 184.400 points with China finishing 0.950 behind
with 183.450 and Romania 178.100.
China had been leading going into
the final rotation - the floor - but saw their title hopes fade when
their first competitor Li Shanshan fell backwards out of bounds
coming out of her final somersault.
But China team anchor Cheng Fei
warned: “The competition isn’t over yet, there are other titles
to win.”
Cheng, 19, won three gold at last
year’s worlds as China claimed their first women’s team title
and an unprecedented eight titles.
Chinese coach Lu Shanzhen added:
“It’s competition, there is only one gold and one country
can’t keep it. We eventually want to win the gold in Beijing.”
The US team included just two
veterans in Alicia Sacramone and Anastasia Liukin, with Samantha
Peszek, 15, Shawn Johnson, 15, and 16-year-old Shayla Worley making
their world debut.
It is the first world team gold
for both Sacramone and Liukin, who won silver last year as the US
lost the title they won for the first time at home in 2003.
China’s men’s team will be
bidding to hold their title on Thursday against Olympic champion
Japan.
--AFP
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