China's Deng Linlin upset team-mate Sui Lu to claim the gold medal in the women's balance beam final on the last day of the Olympic artistic gymnastics tournament on Tuesday. Sui won the silver medal, with Alexandra Raisman of the United States snatching the bronze medal from Romanian three-time Olympic champion Catalina Ponor following a judges' inquiry.
The reigning world beam champion, Sui opened the final with a strong score of 15.500 but Deng bettered her mark by 0.100 points to leave her compatriot in tears on the sidelines at the North Greenwich Arena. "I made a mistake in the women's team event so this medal compensates for that," said Deng. "I have no regrets.
"After the team event, I was depressed. The motivation for this event came from my coach and my team-mates, so I was able to adjust over the last four days and prepare for this event." Ponor, who won three golds at the 2004 Athens Games, initially finished in third with a score of 15.066, despite wobbling twice during her difficult routine and slightly miscuing her landing.
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