US women sparkle to win women's team gold at worlds

STUTTGART, Germany, Sep 5 (Reuters) The United States dazzled on the floor and vault to win the women's team gold at the world gymnastics championships today.

Defending champions China paid for their errors to finish second, 0.950 behind the Americans' winning total of 184.400.

Romania grabbed bronze after Russia, who had comfortably held third place before the final apparatus, saw their chances evaporate when Ekaterina Kramarenko mistimed her run-up, did not complete her vault and scored zero.

Kramarenko's botched effort dropped Russia to last in the eight-team final.

China got off to a bad start when Cheng Fei, vault champion for the past two years, landed on her bottom with her legs outstretched after her vault.

By contrast, the Americans nailed their landings and then extended their lead on the asymmetric bars where Nastia Liukin delighted the crowd with a complex series of releases and handstands and a tricky dismount to earn a 16.375.

Things got shaky on the balance beam for the US when Liukin messed up her dismount and 15-year-old Shawn Johnson fell off.

They went into the final apparatus trailing China by 0.100 after the Asian nation produced the top three performances of the day on the balance beam.

When China's Li Shanshan fell out of the area after her final tumble on the floor exercise, the Americans knew the gold was theirs as long as they could avoid any mishaps on the same apparatus.

Alicia Sacramone and Johnson's great landings, exciting tumbling combinations and graceful jumps clinched the title.

Romania had looked promising in qualifying but some wobbly balance beam routines, including a fall by all-round hopeful Steliana Nistor, had left them in fourth place with a lot of work to do on the final apparatus.

They were handed the medal when Russia's Kramarenko completely misjudged her vault. She ran up but did not take off and was awarded 0.000.

Italy were fourth, followed by Brazil, France and Britain, who were competing in their first world championships team final.

REUTERS PDT KP2335