Romania's Izbasa wins women's floor gold

Romanian gymnast Sandra Izbasa won the Olympic gold medal in the women's floor exercise competition in Beijing on Sunday.

Romanian gymnast Sandra Izbasa won the Olympic gold medal in the women's floor exercise competition in Beijing on Sunday.

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Izbasa, performing the last routine of the session, scored 15.65 to edge reigning world champion Shawn Johnson of the United States into second position on 15.5, her compatriot Nastia Liukin claiming bronze with 15.425.

Izbasa's win is the sixth time a Romanian woman has taken the floor exercise gold at the Olympics since the 1980 Moscow Games.

It is also the first gold for a Romanian women's team that won four gold medals in Athens but, until now, had been eclipsed by China and the United States.

China's Cheng Fei was the host nation's main hope going into the competition but she slipped during her routine and came seventh out of the eight contenders after scoring 14.55.

A weeping Cheng, the reigning world champion on the apparatus, was comforted by her coach Lu Shanzhen after her routine.