American Shawn Johnson finally gets her gold medal

BEIJING – First went Shawn Johnson, making the balance beam shiver with her powerful landings, a defiant display of work. Other than a small step on her landing, Johnson didn’t waver Tuesday night.

Her score was 16.205 points, but she had to wait for her first Olympic gold medal. First she had to watch teammate Nastia Liukin skitter along the beam, lightly working across the 4-inch-wide apparatus, sparkling in a white leotard.

Johnson, wearing dark blue with red and white highlights, scrunched her face and waited some more. When Liukin’s score of 16.025 was posted, Johnson smiled. At last, on the final night of gymnastics competition, Johnson had her first Olympic gold medal.

The pre-meet favorite to win the all-around competition, in which she took silver, Johnson settled for her gold on the balance beam. Her score was highest on the beam in four routines, and the 16-year-old from West Des Moines, Iowa, buried her head in the arms of her Beijing-born coach, Liang Chow.

It wasn’t the gold she wanted, but it was gold.

Liukin won her fifth Olympic medal with the silver, tying her with Shannon Miller for the best American gymnastics performance. China’s Cheng Fei won the bronze.

Cheng, who on Sunday had left the floor in tears after falling on a vault and during her floor routine, was first up on the beam Tuesday. In what may have been her final routine for the national team, Cheng, 20, had two near-falls and a step on her landing but she finished with a smile this time. She received a generous 15.950, her highest beam score of the competition.

Through the three balance beam routines that the contending women had done over the Olympics – during qualification, the team finals and the all-around – Johnson had put up the highest score, a 16.175 during team finals. Liukin was the defending world champion, and Li Shanshan, who finished sixth Tuesday night, had been the top qualifier and a 2007 world silver medalist.

According to Li’s biography, she was rejected by her provincial team because she had crooked teeth. It also says she had to stop training for a time after her father lost his job but that a Guangdong Sports School coach recognized Li’s potential, sponsored her training and raised funds so she could have her teeth straightened.

But Li fell early in her routine. When she lost her balance, she tried to grab the beam but her leg slapped against it with a crack and she ended up on the mat. She was in tears as her score of 15.300 posted.

On the last night of competitive gymnastics (there is a gala Wednesday afternoon), it seemed everybody was a little tired.

Nikolay Kryukov of Russia fell on his face during the parallel bars competition. But he got back up and finished the routine and smiled when his score of 15.150 was posted.

The Chinese men continued with their dominance though. Li Xiaopeng, who won a parallel bars gold medal in 2000 and bronze in 2004, took gold again. His routine was dominant, performed in a nearly silent arena until he had a perfect landing. Li pumped his fists and grabbed the Chinese flag when his score of 16.450 was posted.

Yoo Wonchul of Korea took silver and Anton Fokin of Uzbekistan won the bronze.

With only the high bar left, Chinese men had won six of the seven gymnastics that had been awarded.

 diane.pucin@latimes.com