Li wins fourth Olympic gold medal of his career

Updated: 2008-08-19 19:06:20

Li Xiaopeng celebrates his victory.

(BEIJING, August 19) -- China's Li Xiaopeng won the Men's Parallel Bars tonight, guaranteeing his place in history as one of China's most decorated gymnasts. Li has won two gold medals at Beijing 2008, which is on top of his two gold medals at Sydney 2000.

Li scored 16.450 for a less difficult routine but had a very high level of execution. Yoo Won-chul of the Republic of Korea won the silver medal with a score of 16.250. Anton Fokin of Uzbekistan won the bronze medal with a score of 16.200.

Li, the favorite for the gold medal going into the event, was the last of the eight gymnasts to perform. Li proved himself to be the consummate professional by carrying out a near-flawless performance. After landing cleanly, Li clenched his fists in joy because he knew that he had just secured the fourth gold medal of his career and the eighth gold medal for China in the Artistic Gymnastics competition at Beijing 2008.

Before the event, Yoo and his compatriot Yang Tae-young were seen as Li's only threats for the gold medal. Yang performed too many mistakes in his routine and landed poorly, thus he received the second-lowest score of 15.650. Yoo performed better, winning the silver medal but proving no match for the superlative Li.

At his first Olympic Games, Fokin was a surprise bronze medalist. The 25-year-old gymnast performed a solid routine, capitalizing on the opportunity presented by the mistakes of reigning world champion Mitja Petkovsek of Slovenia and Nikolay Kryukov of Russia. Kryukov's mistake was especially bad as he completely missed the bars and fell to the ground.