America’s darling and the favorite going in to the Beijing Olympics, Shawn Johnson finally leapt away with a gold medal for her near perfect performance on the balance beam. Johnson, a powerhouse on the beam, won the gold on the final women’s gymnastics’ event of this Olympics, edging out her teammate and all-around gold medal winner Nastia Liukin.
"I finished off the Olympic Games with, to me, the most perfect ending ever," Johnson said following her triumph on the beam. "To finally get the gold medal... on my very last routine meant the world to me."
Johnson, a powerhouse on the beam, won the gold on the final women’s gymnastics’ event of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, edging out her teammate and all-around gold medal winner Nastia Liukin, the Associated Press reported.
An ace in just about every event, including balance beam and floor, Johnson went into the Olympics favored to win repeated gold medals. The American women won a team silver, taking second place to the gold-medal winning Chinese team.
In addition to her gold medal on beam, Johnson’s leaving the Olympics with three silver medals, including the team medal and her second place win for the all-around, which she lost to Liukin.
Johnson and Liukin took first and second place in the beam and in the all-around competitions, marking the first time the U.S. women’s team has landed the top slots in both events. The American women also landed the second and third slots in the floor competition.
Combined, Johnson and Liukin have earned eight medals.
“It just shows how strong we are,” Liukin said. “We went out there and showed we are the best. It’s definitely been a very successful Olympics for us.”
