Sixteen year olds who win three silver medals at the Olympics should be the happiest little kids in the world. You'd think, huh?
Never before had Johnson been so nervous, she said later. For the third time in five days, she had a gold medal at stake. Johnson, the perky 16-year-old from West Des Moines, Iowa, had been the first to compete on the floor. She was left to anxiously watch seven other routines before she learned her fate.
So, Johnson’s eyes were open wide and her heart was beating quickly as Sandra Izbasa of Romania tumbled and danced to a packed crowd at the National Indoor Stadium. Izbasa hit every tumbling pass with a solid thud.
Each time Izbasa’s feet squarely hit the blue floor, Johnson — the reigning world champion in the floor exercise — knew what it meant: the gold medal was slipping away.
At the end of that routine, as Johnson had expected but still hoped would not happen, the gold was snatched from her reach.
Izbasa edged Johnson, 15.650 points to 15.500. Nastia Liukin, who had defeated Johnson for the gold in the all-around on Friday, won the bronze medal with 15.425. Johnson, also the world champion in the all-around, had come into the Olympics as a favorite to win that event. She now had three silver medals."
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