BEIJING -- Nastia Liukin is having so much fun at these Olympics she says she might stick around and compete again next year at the world championships.
Shawn Johnson isn't looking beyond Tuesday's balance beam final, her last chance to win a gold medal.
Johnson won the silver in Sunday night's floor exercise competition, her third silver medal of the Olympics. It was a bittersweet finish for the defending world champion, who had to compete first of the eight finalists and then nervously watch and wait.
Liukin took the bronze, a triumph for the 18-year-old who has spent the last year trying to improve an event that had been a weakness.
Romania's Sandra Izbasa won the gold. The last competitor of the night, she performed her routine without an obvious flaw, as even Johnson said, with every landing unwavering. Izbasa's score of 15.650 edged Johnson's 15.500 and bronze-medalist Liukin's 15.425. The win earned Izbasa a call from Romania's president.
Before Izbasa started to compete, former U.S. coach Bela Karolyi muttered, "Watch, Santa Claus is coming for Romania." Izbasa's routine was more difficult than expected, and the Romanian's performance became a perky punctuation to a night that included both excitement and disappointment.
China's most veteran female competitor, 20-year-old three-time defending world vault champion Cheng Fei, landed one of her attempts on her knees and settled for bronze. On her floor exercise, she had a fall that caused her to walk off the mat in tears.
Alicia Sacramone was also red-eyed. The 20-year-old finished fourth on the vault, which was won by North Korea's Hong Un Jong.
Both Sacramone and her coach, Mihai Brestyan, questioned how Cheng finished third ahead of Sacramone despite the fall.
"Cheng didn't land the last vault," Brestyan said. "I think Alicia deserved the bronze." Karolyi agreed: "Definitely," and said, "Cheng should have gotten a bigger deduction."
Liukin, however, was thrilled to win her third Olympic medal.
She now has gold (all-around), silver (team) and bronze. She wants two more so she can say she has more Olympic medals than her father and coach, Valeri, who has four. Liukin still has two events -- her signature uneven bars routine today, and the balance beam, where she is defending world champion, Tuesday.
"I'd like to beat my dad," Liukin said.
