Liukin captures all-around gold

American Nastia Liukin was crowned the new queen of women's gymnastics when she won the all-around Olympic gold medal yesterday, breaking China's grip on the competition. The 18-year-old put in a dazzling display on all four apparatus to seal the title...

American Nastia Liukin was crowned the new queen of women's gymnastics when she won the all-around Olympic gold medal yesterday, breaking China's grip on the competition. The 18-year-old put in a dazzling display on all four apparatus to seal the title with a score of 63.325 and emulate the feat of fellow Americans Mary Lou Retton and Carly Patterson. Liukin edged out compatriot and world champion Shawn Johnson by 0.6 of a point. China's Yang Yilin picked up the bronze. With victory confirmed, Liukin jumped into the arms of her ecstatic father and coach Valery, who himself was twice a gold medallist with the Soviet Union in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.