Gymnasts survive rough prelim round

BEIJING — The most memorable image of Nastia Liukin from Sunday's qualifying round at the Beijing Olympics will be the Texas gymnast falling flat on her back after her somersaulting dismount from her signature event, the uneven bars.

But it won't be the defining one.

Liukin — and the shorthanded United States, shaken by a late injury to Samantha Peszek — certainly had their trying moments as they opened Olympic competition at the National Indoor Stadium.

But the 18-year-old Liukin — a balance of fragility and strength — and her American teammates showed grit, pulled themselves back up and came out OK for their spills and trials.

"After I fell, I was sitting there like 'what am I doing on the floor?"' Liukin said. "'I'm not supposed to be here.' Other than that I felt like I had a very good day."

True, rival and host China topped the U.S. in qualifying, 248.275 to 246.8. Third-place Russia tallied 244.4.

But the nations competed in different subdivisions, not head-to-head, and the numbers will be thrown out moving forward. The scoring in Wednesday's team final — a glorious fight awaits no doubt — will be a different deal as three gymnasts compete on each apparatus for each nation, with all three scores counting.

Two Americans finished atop the all-around standings. Iowan Shawn Johnson, the reigning world all-around champion, and Liukin were 1-2. Just like usual, no matter that this is the Olympics. China's Yang Yilin was third; Russia's Ksenia Semenova fourth.

In addition to team finals, where the U.S. will try to win Olympic team gold on foreign soil for the first time, Liukin qualified for the all-around finals and individual finals on balance beam, floor exercise and bars. Her routine on the bars is so hard she can sustain the eight-tenths lost for the fall.

Johnson also qualified for the all-around and floor and beam finals. Alicia Sacramone qualified for vault finals.

But back to the drama.

The confident U.S., the reigning world champions, was finishing warm-ups at the training venue, when Peszek sprained her left ankle doing a tumbling pass.

"We all kind of freaked out," Liukin said.

Peszek, like teammate Chellsie Memmel, injured in training a week before, could compete only on bars, doctors decided.