Uneven Bars, Women

The format was the same as it had been from 1984-2004, with eight gymnasts advancing from the team all-around, but no more than two per nation. American Nastia Liukin had won the individual all-around and was favored in this event, having won the 2005 World Championships, and World silver medals in 2006-07 on uneven bars. She and China’s He Kexin tied at 16.725 and had identical scores of 9.025 for execution and 7.700 for difficulty. He ended up with the gold medal by a complex tie-breaking system in which the highest and lowest scores for execution were eliminated until a winner was determined.

He’s entry in the 2008 Olympics was controversial. She was listed as 16-years-old, the minimum for the Olympics, but was very small, and looked about 10. An old entry for her listed her date of birth as 1994, but the Chinese stated that that was a clerical error. An investigation after the Olympics by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) determined that she was eligible to compete in Beijing.