BEIJING — Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin won gold and silver, respectively, on the balance beam in individual event finals Tuesday evening.
Johnson posted a score of 16.225 to take the gold, while Liukin claimed silver with a 16.025. The bronze medal was won by Cheng Fei of China with a 15.950.
Johnson's gold is the second in the event by an American, following Shannon Miller's at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. It marks the first time the U.S. has won two medals in the event.
Liukin has tied the record for most medals won by a U.S. women's gymnast at a single Olympic Games. Her five medals matches the feat first achieved by Mary Lou Retton and duplicated by Shannon Miller. Miller remains the top medal winner in U.S. women's gymnastics history with seven.
Jonathan Horton won the silver medal in the men's high bar in the gymnastics individual event finals. Horton scored a 16.175, only 0.025 behind the 16.200 scored by Zou Kai of China to take the gold. The bronze medal was won by Fabian Hambuechen of Germany with a 15.875.
The U.S. gymnastics team closes out the 2008 Olympic Games with a total of 10 medals won (two gold, six silver, 2 bronze), the fourth best medal haul at a single Olympic Games and the top total at an Olympic Games outside the United States. The most was 20 at the 1904 St. Louis Olympic Games, followed by the 16 each won at the 1932 and 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
In wrestling, Henry Cejudo won the men's 55 kg freestyle gold medal, beating Tomohiro Matsunaga of Japan Tuesday at the China Agricultural University Gymnasium.
Cejudo, a Mexican-American whose mother and father came to the United States separately without papers before he was born, grew up in Los Angeles and trains in Colorado Springs, Colo.
He came to the national team out of high school, rather than the more traditional path through college wrestling.
"This is what I said I was going to do," he said. "I feel like I am living the American dream. The U.S. is the land of opportunities, and I am glad to represent it.
"Coming out of a Mexican-American background, it feels so good. Not many Americans get to do something like this."
In the men's triathlon, Germany's Jan Frodeno kicked past Canada's Simon Whitfield in the final 100 meters to capture the gold.
Frodeno finished in 1 hour, 48 minutes, 53.28 seconds.
Whitfield, the 2000 Olympic champion, held on for silver in 1:48:58.47. New Zealand's Bevan Docherty bagged bronze in 1:49:05.59.
Three-time Olympian Hunter Kemper of Colorado Springs led the U.S. trio, placing seventh in 1:49:48.75. Jarrod Shoemaker of Sudbury, Mass., finished 18th (1:50:46.39) and Matty Reed of Boulder, Colo., took 32nd (1:52:30.44).
Elsewhere:
— The U.S. women's water polo team advanced to the gold medal game with a dramatic 9-8 victory against Australia. A goal by Brenda Villa, with 60 seconds to play, sealed the win. Next up is the gold medal game against The Netherlands, an 8-7 winner against Hungary in the other semifinal, on Thursday.
— Anna Tunnicliffe of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., won gold in sailing's laser radial class. Tunnicliffe had to circle back at the start to ensure she had not false started, dropped to ninth, then stormed back to win.
— Rami Zur placed third in his heat to advance to the semifinals in the men's 500-meter single kayak competition. Carrie Johnson advanced to the semifinals in the women's single kayak 500-meter event by placing fourth in her heat.
— The U.S. women's basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the 2008 Olympic Games tournament on the strength of a 104-60 victory over Korea. The semifinal round will be played Thursday.
— Dexter Fowler went 3-3 and John Gall was 2-3 with a solo home run to pace the U.S. baseball team to a 4-2 victory over Chinese Taipei. The win ensures that the U.S. will advance to the semifinals, with its seeding dependent on the outcome of the final game in pool play against Japan, scheduled Wednesday.
— Sanya Richards won the bronze medal in the women's 400m dash. Richards circled the track in 49.93, 0.31 behind the 49.62 of gold medalist Christine Ohuruogu of Great Britain. The silver went to Shericka Williams of Jamaica in a time of 49.69 seconds.
— Dawn Harper won the gold medal in the women's 100m hurdles, posting a time of 12.54 seconds. Sally McLellan of Australia was the silver medalist, while Canada's Priscilla Lopes-Schliep won the bronze. Both were shown as having a time of 12.64 seconds.