TOKYO (AP) — Jordyn Wieber had her back to the scoreboard and coach John Geddert was halfway down the floor, so sure were they that the gold had gone to someone else.
Then the final standings posted.
Once again, Wieber was golden.
The American rallied to beat Russia's Viktoria Komova for the all-around title at the world gymnastics championships on Thursday night, despite making mistakes on both uneven bars and floor exercise. Wieber is the sixth American to win gymnastics' biggest prize at worlds, and adds a second gold to the one she won with her U.S. teammates on Tuesday night.
Wieber had a big form break on uneven bars, leaving her trailing Komova by more than a point midway through the meet. She pared the lead in half with a spectacular balance beam routine, but seemed resigned to silver after taking a big step out of bounds on floor exercise. With Komova going last, Wieber stood on the sidelines getting a pep talk and a pat on the back from Geddert.
Komova was clean, but her routine didn't have the difficulty — nor anywhere near the spark — of Wieber's. When the final score was posted, Wieber was the winner.
Barely. She finished with 59.382 points, just 0.033 ahead of Komova, the Youth Olympic Games champion. Her mouth dropped open in shock and Geddert threw his hands in the air before sprinting down the floor.
China's Yao Jinnan won the bronze medal.
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