BEIJING - Shawn Johnson had dark circles under her brown eyes and a headache, but when she jumped on the balance beam last night, she switched on her smile and defiantly pounded out a gold-medal routine.
It wasn't the gold Johnson wanted. She had come here as the favorite to win the all-around title, had hoped to lead the U.S. team to a gold medal, had hoped to defend her world championship in the floor exercise and add to that a balance-beam gold medal.
But through a succession of silvers - team, all-around, floor - Johnson, 16, of West Des Moines, Iowa, stuck out her chin, wiped away tears and insisted that silver was just as nice as gold. Last night, finally, she said something else.
"This gold means more than anything to me," Johnson said. "Beam is my favorite event, and I've worked hardest on this for a long time. It's the perfect ending to my Olympic experience."
The balance-beam final ended in a 1-2 finish for the United States, with Nastia Liukin getting the silver. China's Cheng Fei won the bronze.
Liukin, an 18-year-old from Parker, Texas, will go home as the American gymnastics star. Her balance-beam silver was Liukin's fifth medal of the Olympics, tying her with Mary Lou Retton (1984) and Shannon Miller (1992) for the most for a U.S. woman in a single Olympics. Liukin, who wound up with one gold, three silvers and one bronze, also ended a good-natured sparring match with her coach and father, Valeri Liukin, who won two golds and two silvers at the 1988 Olympics.
"I'm the best now," Nastia said.
Johnson had been touted as the potential record setter, and her accomplishment yesterday left her subdued. As the national anthem played, Johnson put her hand over her heart and swallowed hard and didn't crack a smile or let go a sob.
In a matter of two weeks here, through practices and qualifying, team competition and individual battles, it was as if the totality of her Olympic experience, the losses and the wins, turned Johnson from a bouncy high school sophomore into a contemplative grown-up.
"I wouldn't turn in one of my silver medals for a gold," Johnson said afterward. "They all mean something special. I learned from them all."
Her Beijing-born coach, Liang Chow, said Johnson had needed extra practice routines yesterday, and during a final warm-up Johnson had two unusual stumbles. He also said Johnson had a headache at the arena.
