The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Beijing

He was a picture of confidence as Yang Wei lifted the gold in the Men's individual all-round Gymnastic competition at the National Indoor Stadium here today.

After completing his superb physical feat Yang Wei clapped as he walked past the vault judges, cheerfully waved to the crowd and flashed a thumbs-up for the cameras.

Not being able to find his luck in Sydney and disappointed in Athens, he convincingly subdued his rivals in Beijing Olympics to crown himself as a true Olympic champion with 94.575 points, nearly three points ahead of Kohei Uchimura of Japan. Benoit Caranobe of France won the bronze.

Gymnastics is becoming China's domain at the Beijing Olympics as their gold rush continues on and Yang is a familiar face as a big star in Gymnastic. But his perseverance paid off after waiting eight years to reach this height. "Today was perfect," he said. "I felt tired before the competition, but after it I feel relaxed, "he said today at a press briefing after the medal awarding ceremony.

He didn't even bother waiting for his marks on high bar, his final event, before taking a curtain call, leaping onto the podium and thrusting his fists in the air while the crowd went crazy.

His coach gave him a Chinese flag, and he held it out with pride. Judges took what seemed like forever to post his marks, but that only gave Yang more time to soak it all in.

"I thought a month ago if I would get this medal, I would be every emotional," Yang said. "But I'm really not, because we won the team gold medal."

As the adoring crowd chanted "Yang Wei! Yang Wei!" he pounded his chest with his fists. When his final mark finally did go up, the crowd went wild and Yang wanted more, cupping his hands to his ears and asking for them to pump up the volume. They were cheering lustily for the two-time world champion, who just might join Yao Ming and Liu Xiang as China's biggest names in these games.

It is China's second men's all-round gold. Li Xiao shuang won in 1996.