Gymnastics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's balance beam

Women's balance beam competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held on August 19 at the Beijing National Indoor Stadium.

Women's balance beam
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
VenueBeijing National Indoor Stadium
DatesAugust 19
Competitors8 from 5 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Shawn Johnson  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Nastia Liukin  United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Cheng Fei  China
← 2004
2012 →

The eight competitors (with a maximum of two per nation) with the highest scores in qualifying proceeded to the women's balance beam finals. There, each gymnast performed again; the scores from the final round (ignoring qualification) determined final ranking.

Medalists

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  Gold   Silver   Bronze
  Shawn Johnson (USA)   Nastia Liukin (USA)   Cheng Fei (CHN)

Final

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Position Gymnast Country A score B score Penalty Total
  Shawn Johnson   United States 7.000 9.225 16.225
  Nastia Liukin   United States 6.600 9.425 16.025
  Cheng Fei   China 6.800 9.150 15.950
4 Anna Pavlova   Russia 6.800 9.100 15.900
5 Gabriela Drăgoi   Romania 6.500 9.125 15.625
6 Li Shanshan   China 7.000 8.300 15.300
7 Ksenia Afanasyeva   Russia 5.800 9.025 14.825
8 Koko Tsurumi   Japan 6.300 8.150 14.450

Qualified competitors

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Position Gymnast A score[1] B score Penalty Total
1   Li Shanshan (CHN) 7.000 9.125 16.125
2   Nastia Liukin (USA) 6.600 9.375 15.975
3   Shawn Johnson (USA) 6.900 9.075 15.975
4   Cheng Fei (CHN) 6.700 9.275 0.100 15.875
5   Anna Pavlova (RUS) 6.700 9.125 15.825
6   Ksenia Afanasyeva (RUS) 6.600 9.175 15.775
7   Gabriela Drăgoi (ROU) 6.500 8.950 15.450
8   Koko Tsurumi (JPN) 6.500 8.925 15.425

Only two gymnasts per country may advance to an event final. The following gymnasts scored high enough to qualify, but did not do so because two gymnasts from their country had already qualified ahead of them:

The eventual final qualifier had the 13th highest balance beam score overall during qualification.

References

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Notes
  1. ^ Scoring in artistic gymnastics is based on two separate scores that are then combined in order to come to the final score. The A score measures the difficulty of each element (and combinations of elements) within the routine, while the B score evaluates the performance, ie, the "execution, composition and artistry" of the routine. For further information, please see the Code of Points article.
Sources