Gymnastics Challenge Men’s Team Finals : Song Wen Wins All-Around Title as China Beats U.S.

Song Wen scored a 9.75 in floor exercise on his way to the all-around title Friday night to lead China to a victory over the United States in the men’s team finals of the McDonald’s Gynastics Challenge at the Forum.

Song’s title seemed in doubt when Chinese national champion Guo Linsheng scored a 9.85 on the high bar (the last event). He responded, however, with a 9.75, and the Chinese came away with a 285.1-to-284.85 victory.

Guo took the silver medal in the all-around, and Scott Johnson, the only American with Olympic experience, gained the bronze.

Johnson, formerly of the University of Nebraska, had a second in the floor exercise and on the vault, and finished third on the still rings and parallel bars.

The other Olympian on the American team, former UCLA gymnast Tim Daggett, sat out the evening with a sore ankle, but he is expected to compete in Sunday’s individual event finals. The women’s team and all-around competition will be held tonight.

The Chinese, on the basis of Song’s 9.75 in the floor exercise, took a two-tenths of a point lead after the first event of the night and were never headed.

The Chinese men’s team has won the last four non-Olympic challenges against the United States. The last American victory was in the Los Angeles Olympics last summer, when the U.S. team defeated China by six-tenths of a point.

The highest score of the night was Guo’s 9.85 on the high bar. The Gymnastic Federation sets new standards after every Olympic Games. Tens were scored so frequently that standards were made tougher, which was the reason for the lower scores.

The Chinese won every apparatus except the parallel bars. Charles Lakes of the University of Illinois and Billy Paul of Millbrae, Calif., each scored 9.65s to top that event. Xie Tiehua won the still rings with a 9.75. Guo won the pommel horse and the high bar. Wang Xiaoming won the vault with a 9.55.

The meet lasted until 11:20 p.m., nearly four hours of competition, due to judging discrepancies. The scores were frequently changed due to the inability of the judges to come to unanimous decisions.