China's Yan Mingyong performs on the rings during the men's team final at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2011. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
China's Yan Mingyong performs on the rings during the men's team final at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2011. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
China's Teng Haibin performs on the pommel horse during the men's team final at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2011. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
China's Yan Mingyong performs on the pommel horse during the men's team final at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2011. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
China's Chen Yibing performs on the pommel horse during the men's team final at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2011. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
China's Teng Haibin performs on the pommel horse during the men's team final at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2011. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
TOKYO (AP) ? Never, ever count China out.
Looking vulnerable after an ordinary performance in qualifying, the Chinese came roaring back to win their fifth straight title at the world gymnastics championships on Wednesday night. They finished with 275.161 points, more than 2 ahead of Japan and the United States, and walked off the floor with their index fingers held aloft ? as if there's a doubt who is No. 1.
For the Americans, it was their first medal at worlds since taking the silver in 2003. They finished a mere tenth of a point behind Japan, something that will surely serve as motivation for next summer's London Olympics.
China has dominated men's gymnastics since 2006, running away with the team gold medal at the Beijing Olympics and all but one of the seven individual titles. They added a fourth straight title at last year's worlds, as well as the golds on still rings, parallel bars and high bar.
A similar gold rush was expected here. China returned five gymnasts from last year's title squad, and the six team members have a jewelry-store's worth of gold medals among them.
But after finishing third behind Japan and the Americans in qualifying, many wondered if China's reign was ending.
Not even close.
A close third with two events to go, they pulled away with spectacular showings on high bar and floor exercise. Zhang Chenglong, the defending world champion on high bar, got such great height on his release moves it's a good thing the overhead camera wasn't zooming around or they surely would have collided. Yet he landed each with complete nonchalance, as if flinging yourself 12 feet in the air and grabbing a thin pipe on the way back down is a breeze.
Zhang pumped his fist as he left the podium, and his teammates screamed. They put on a tumbling clinic on floor exercise, with Zou Kai landing each pass so perfectly it was like he had flypaper on his feet. He pumped his fist as he trotted off the podium and the Chinese started celebrating ? not even caring that two-time world champion Kohei Uchimura still had to go on high bar.
They needn't have worried, as Uchimura peeled off on a somersault high above the bar. The home crowd gasped ? Uchimura doesn't miss ? and Uchimura sat on the mat for a second, his head bowed.
All that was left was to see if Japan could beat the Americans. They did ? barely.
The Americans have been telling anyone who will listen that they think they can contend for the gold medal at the London Olympics. They'll have to clean up some of their errors here ? Jonathan Horton landed his vault on his knees, his face buried in the mat, while 18-year-old John Orozco looked unsteady on still rings ? but they proved they've got the goods ? and the guts ? to hang with the best teams.
Coming into the final event trailing Russia by about a quarter point for third place, they erased the deficit easily with three high bar routines better than any show at any circus. Orozco's was silky smooth, one skill flowing into the next, while Horton and Danell Leyva put on the kind of cover-your-eyes-and-hide-the-children daredevil acts that the X-Games set loves so much.
Horton's parents put him in gymnastics after they caught him climbing up a pole at a store, and he hasn't lost his love for heights. He threw himself up and over the bar once, twice, three times and then a fourth, the crowd oohing and aahing as he got higher and higher with each one. But each time he caught the bar as easily as if he was reaching out to grab a strap on a Tokyo subway car. He hit the mat with a resounding thud, his feet not budging, and personal coach Tom Meadows and the rest of the U.S. contingent in the stands leaped to their feet.
Leyva's routine is equally acrobatic, but in a different way, and stepfather Yin Alvarez, excitable even when he's asleep, was practically sprinting as he paced in the stands. But he had nothing to worry about, with Leyva doing skills as easily as if he was checking them off a list. When Leyva stuck his dismount, hitting the mat so solidly it was as if he had glue on his feet, he let out a primal scream as the rest of the Americans threw their hands in the air.
Their big scores ? 15.3 or better for each ? meant Japan would have to score better than 44 points to catch the Americans. And the Japanese made it interesting, with both Yusuke Tanaka and Uchimura falling off on high bar. But even with the fall, Uchimura's routine was so difficult and pretty it was enough to keep the Japanese in front of the United States.
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