Chellsie Memmel and Nastia Liukin on uneven bars

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BEIJING -- Both Chellsie Memmel and Nastia Liukin had big mistakes on uneven bars. Memmel didn’t catch the bar on a release move and came off, and Liukin fell backward on her landing. Liukin, who has scored as high as 17.300 on her routine, received only a 15.950 and Memmel had a 15.050.

A sad-faced collection of girls moved to the balance beam where routines improved, and Shawn Johnson finished with a score of 15.975. China qualified with 248.275 point and the U.S. with 246.800.

-- Diane Pucin