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Carly Patterson takes individual all-around gold medal
2004-08-19
Carly Patterson, of the United States, performs her routine on the balance beam during the women's gymnastics individual all-around final at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 19, 2004. Patterson went on to take the gold medal in the competition. |
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ATHENS, Greece- It does not get any better than this for American gymnastics. The United States can boast it has the two top individual gymnasts in the world, now that 16-year-old Carly Patterson has won the women's individual all-around title.Patterson's victory comes 24 hours after Paul Hamm bounced back from 12th place with two events remaining to capture the first U.S. men's all-around gold medal, and marks the first time American gymnasts have won both all-around titles in the same Olympics. "I'm just so excited and happy," Patterson said. "It means a whole lot because I worked my whole life to become an Olympic champion and it's finally come true." A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Patterson posted the top score of the night on floor exercise, 9.712, to finish with 37.387 points, beating Russia's Svetlana Khorkina by .176 points. China's Zhang Nan won the bronze, while American Courtney Kuppets ended up in ninth place. Patterson was fourth after her first two rotations, but nailed a 9.725 on the balance beam to lead Khorkina by .26 points with one event to go. Khorkina, a three-time world champion who has failed on three occasions to win Olympic gold in the all-around, managed a 9.562 on her floor exercise routine, which kept the door open for Patterson to pull out the win. Khorkina admitted this may have been her last realistic opportunity to grab the all-around gold. "Probably I will compete until the end of the year in the World Cup in Great Britain," Khorkina said. "It's not that easy for me. Maybe it's the right time to give up." Patterson had the top score of the 24 competitors on the balance beam and floor exercise, while Khorkina led in vault and uneven parallel bars. The last time gymnasts from the same country won both all-around gold medals in the same Olympics was the Soviet pair of Vladimir Artemov and Yelena Shushunova in 1988 at Seoul.
Carly Patterson takes individual all-around gold medal (2004-08-19)Zhang's bronze cheers Chinese Gymnastics team (2004-08-19)2 (11285)
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