Yang Wei extended China's dominance at the world gymnastics championships Thursday, winning the gold medal in the men's all-around to go with his country's earlier victories in both team events.
Yang, a runner-up at the Sydney Olympics and at the 2003 worlds in Anaheim, gave China its third gold medal in three competitions so far this week.
Defending champion Hiroyuki Tomita of Japan finished with 93.175 points, 1.225 behind Yang, to win the silver. Fabian Hambuechen of Germany won bronze _ a result that delighted this crowd in Aarhus, on the Jutland Peninsula, not far from the northern German border.
Adam Wong of Calgary was the top Canadian, finishing tied for ninth spot with a score of 90.325. His best score was 15.625 on the vault. Nathan Gafuik, also of Calgary, was 17th.
Chen Yibing was in position to make it a one-two finish for the Chinese, but he took a big step forward on his final high bar routine and dropped to fourth. Yang, meanwhile, had nearly a two-point lead heading into his high bar, so he watered down his routine to secure the win.
``I just wanted to make sure I would win,'' Yang said. ``I had the lead. There was no need to make it too difficult.''
China's dominance, of course, comes with the next Olympics set for Beijing in 22 months. The timing, it seems, couldn't be much better.
Yang was celebrating a victory in Anaheim, thinking he had it sewn up, only to see Paul Hamm deliver on a risky, three-release high bar routine to edge him out. Yang also finished second to Alexei Nemov in 2000.
This time, though, the show was all his. His rings were marvellous, more powerful than anyone in the gym. He earned a 16.625 on vault.
Tomita put some pressure on Yang with one of the best parallel bars routines of the night _ his toes pointed precisely, his legs never wobbling. He had to windmill his arms to keep from falling on his dismount and took a slight step forward. Still, he scored a 15.725.
But as he had all night, Yang did Tomita one better. He showcased his impressive strength and power, at one point pushing effortlessly backward up into a handstand. He held the pose for several seconds, not moving an inch.
He took a slight step on his landing, too, but his score of 16.00 was enough to solidify his lead going into the final rotation, and he got through the high bar routine without a flaw to wrap up the victory.
``I felt great. Very cool. Very calm,'' Yang said. ``I felt that way because of all the time I've spent this year getting ready.''
Meanwhile, defending world champion Chellsie Memmel of the U.S., withdrew from the women's all-around with a shoulder injury.
Memmel, who fell from the uneven bars during team finals Wednesday night, hurt her right shoulder a bit later in the routine when she flew from the high to the low bar and caught the bar awkwardly.
It was the same shoulder Memmel hurt earlier in the year and had slowly brought back to health over the summer. Her father and coach, Andy Memmel, said she has trained pain-free since mid-August and saw no signs the injury might return.
© The Canadian Press, 2007
