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By Nancy Armour, Associated Press writer
ATLANTA -- Lilia Podkopayeva cried tears of joy. The Americans just cried.
Podkopayeva's stunning floor routine gave the Ukrainian gymnast a 9.887 -- the highest score of the Olympics -- and the all-around gold. It was on that same floor that Shannon Miller and Dominique Dawes tearily watched their medal hopes slip away.
Just two nights earlier, the United States performed almost flawlessly and won the team gold. This time, Miller finished eighth, Dominique Moceanu, subbing for injured Kerri Strug, was ninth, and Dawes finished in a tie for 17th with Monica Martin of Spain.
Not even a visit afterward with President Clinton could console them.
"I tried my hardest tonight," Miller said, breaking down as she spoke. "We won the gold and were so excited, we lost focus. It's hard."
It was a sweet night for Podkopayeva, who came into the final round tied for first with China's Mo Huilan. Podkopayeva got the crowd clapping as she tumbled and twirled to an Irish jig.
As her score flashed, the reigning world champion closed her eyes and clasped her hands together as if in prayer. Mo was the last to go, and when she stepped out of bounds on her floor routine, Podkopayeva burst into tears.
"I'm very happy the floor was last, because I could reach my full potential," she said.
She teared up again as the gold medal was placed around her neck, then kissed it twice as she waved her bouquet of flowers to the crowd.
Gina Gogean of Romania won the silver, and the bronze was shared by her teammates, Simona Amanar and Lavinia Milosovici. Milosovici also won the bronze in Barcelona.
Mo finished fifth.
Amanar was a last-minute addition to the all-around in place of Alexandra Marinescu, who actually had a higher qualifying score. The switch was made because Amanar did better in the team optionals.
Early on, it looked as if the Americans were going to add to their medal collection. Dawes was in first place after the first two events, and Miller was tied for second with Russia's Dina Kochetkova as they both went to the floor exercise.
But one disastrous slip and one misplaced foot ended all hope of a medal.
Dawes got off-center on a high-soaring tumbling pass, and under-rotated a front somersault. Her feet slipped out from underneath and went skidding out of bounds, and she had to plant both hands on the floor to keep from falling.
Her lip was already quivering as she finished her routine, and she started sobbing as she walked into the arms of coach Kelli Hill.
"She can always do it for the team, but she struggles when it's for herself," Hill said.
Dawes sat on the sidelines with her head buried in her hands, not even watching as the scoreboard flashed a 9.0 and the crowd booed. The mark dropped her to 20th place.
"It was a little hard, because the same thing happened at two (world championships). I dealt with it then and I can deal with it now," she said as she began sobbing uncontrollably.
Miller ran into problems minutes earlier. After blowing her first tumbling pass with a big hop forward as she landed, she finished in disaster.
She came out of a backward somersault with her left foot planted firmly -- and slightly out of bounds. The judge who was just inches away from her didn't raise a flag, but a few seconds later, the judge sitting directly across the floor did.
Tears spilled from Miller's eyes and her shoulders heaved as coach Steve Nunno patted her on the back. The crowd gave out a loud "ooh," as her score of 9.475 was posted, dropping her to 10th place.
The tears started flowing again in her final event, the vault. She landed with her feet apart on her first vault, and began crying as she walked back down the runway.
She composed herself, then sprinted down the runway, hurtling herself over the vault and landing with her feet slightly apart. She grinned, and the crowd gave her a standing ovation as she was awarded a 9.724.
Nunno gathered her and Dawes together, congratulating and consoling them at the same time.
"There's been a lot of emotion the last few days," Miller said. "There was the high of winning the team gold and the low of making the mistakes on the floor. But I was glad to end it on a good note."
Moceanu's night was over almost as soon as it began. She nearly slipped off the beam, swinging her arms in big circles to steady herself. On her next routine, the floor exercise, she ended her first tumbling pass with her right foot out of bounds.
"I didn't have the night tonight," she said.
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