BEIJING — Oksana Chusovitina, who won the vault silver medal on Sunday, is a 33-year-old mother competing in her fifth Olympics. Sandra Izbasa, a 5-foot-5 Romanian, was the gold medalist in floor exercise, edging U.S. gymnasts Shawn Johnson (silver) and Nastia Liukin (bronze).
"I don't feel 33, I feel 18,'' Chusovitina said in German, her adopted language. She is the first gymnast to compete in five Olympics, and the oldest gymnastics medalist in recent memory.
Chusovitina's career has spanned three nationalities. Before 1993, she competed for the Soviet Union. From 1994-2006 she competed for Uzbekistan, and now she represents Germany.
On the same day that 41-year-old mother Dara Torres won two silver medals in the swimming pool, Chusovitina proved there is room in gymnastics for older athletes.
She did not rule out training through the 2012 Olympics in London. "By then I'll be 37, and if I have the chance, I can do a sixth Olympics.''
Izbasa isn't your stereotypical Olympic gymnast, either. She towered over 4-foot-9 Johnson and many of the Chinese sprites. But her size didn't keep her from executing a high-risk floor routine that was a tad more difficult than Johnson's. She wasn't as balletic as Liukin, nor as powerful as Johnson, but judges awarded her a higher mark for difficulty.
She scored 15.65, while Johnson got 15.5 and Liukin had 15.425.
"She stuck all her landings and had amazing execution,'' Johnson said of Izbasa. "My landings could have been better, but I have no regrets. I'm having the time of my life.''
Not quite as chipper was Alicia Sacramone, the U.S. team captain. She was eager to redeem herself after falling on the beam and the floor exercise during the team competition, mistakes that hurt the U.S.'s chances for gold. The team settled for silver, and no matter how many times her teammates told her it wasn't her fault, she felt responsible.
She ended up in fourth place on vault Sunday, one spot from a medal.
Elsewhere:
Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor advanced to the women's beach volleyball semifinals, cruising past Brazil's Larissa Franca and Ana Paula Connelly, 21-18, 21-15, at Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground.
Connelly, who had failed to qualify for Beijing with her own partner, stepped in to replace the injured Juliana Felisberta on Aug. 7, and despite the new pairing many still expected the Brazilians to reach the medal round.
But the U.S. team, which has been together for eight years, was too efficient and Walsh too deadly with five block kills in the match.
Walsh and May-Treanor's semifinal opponent was to be determined Sunday evening.
Constantina Tomescu of Romania won the women's marathon in 2:26.44.
Catherine Ndereba of Kenya won a duel with Zhou Chunxiu of China for the silver.
There had been concerns about the weather and the air quality in Beijing, but Tomescu said the conditions - 73 degrees when the race started and intermittent showers, were good.
"Before, I was thinking it would be hot and humid," Tomescu said, "but it was a good day for me."
And the smog?
"I don't feel it," she said.
In tennis, sisters Venus and Serena Williams beat defeated Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-2, 6-0 for their second gold in women's doubles. They also won at Sydney in 2000.
In other events:
— The U.S. won gold in the women's eight rowing competition. They led the whole way, beating the Netherlands by 1.88 seconds. Romania took the bronze.
— Randi Miller took bronze in the women's 63 kg wrestling competition, beating Canada's Martine Dugrenier of Canada.
— The U.S. men's eight rallied from last to take bronze. Canada won the gold in 5:23.89, and Great Britain took silver.
— The U.S. women's volleyball team closed pool play with a 3-2 victory over Poland. The Americans (4-1) finished second in Pool A behind Cuba (5-0). They advance to the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
— The U.S rowers finished fifth in both men's and women's quad sculls.
In the women's race, the U.S. team of Lia Pernell, Lindsay Meyer, Jen Kaido and Margot Shumway finished 9.80 seconds behind the gold-medal boat of China (6:16.06). Great Britain won silver, Germany took bronze.
The men's crew of Matt Hughes, Sam Stitt, Jamie Schroeder and Scott Gault was 6.31 behind Poland, which took the gold at 5:41.33. Italy won silver, and France won bronze.
— U.S. women's track cyclist Jennie Reed advanced to Monday's 1/8 sprint quarterfinals with a victory over Simona Krupeckoite of Lithuania.
— In sailing, Finn sailor Zach Railey of Clearwater, Fla., took silver by finishing fifth in the final 10-boat race. Ben Ainslie of Great Britain won his third Olympic gold and fourth medal overall. France's Guillaume Florent too bronze.