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 While China won its third straight world title, Germany's medal Thursday was its first at the world championships since 1991
-- about the time Hambuechen and his teammates started tumbling.
"It's just awesome," Hambuechen said, still grinning a half-hour after the competition ended. "It's unbelievable, this day. We're happy about the results. What else can I say? It's ridiculous. Nobody thought this was possible today. And, well, we got it, and it's just amazing."
So, too, was the show put on by the Americans. Written off after a 13th-place finish at last year's worlds, the United States not only qualified easily for next summer's Beijing Olympics, it came within two falls of making it back to the medals podium.
China finished with 281.900 points, almost five points ahead of Japan. Germany was third, beating the Americans by 1.25 points.
"We could have easily been on that podium. No doubt in my mind," Jonathan Horton said. "People see that we're back. We're not an inexperienced team anymore. We know what we're doing, we know how to compete and I think we're going to do it next year."
There was no next year for Germany.
Hambuechen achieved rock star status in sports-mad Germany last year, when he won the bronze all-around medal at worlds. With a young, promising team, the Olympics only a year away and worlds in their back yard, this was the year for the Germans to show everyone what they had.
Did they ever.
After finishing third in qualifying, the Germans were more steady than spectacular Thursday. But with China and Japan having a stranglehold on the top two spots, that was all they needed.
Sure, teams get a bump at home. But Germany had only one significant error in team finals, when Philipp Boy stumbled forward on his dismount off high bar and had to put his hands down to keep from toppling over.
The Americans, the South Koreans, the Russians, the Romanians -- they all made multiple mistakes.
"The German team, they're at home," Russia's Nikolai Kryukov said. "But they are strong, too. Today, they had just one big mistake, on the high bar. And no more. They're a very good team. Very stable. But they are at home."
In some ways, that makes Germany's victory all the more impressive. The German fans are ga-ga for the men's team, and they weren't shy about showing their allegiance. Fans tailed after Hambuechen as if he was the Pied Piper, and he was greeted with chants of "Fabi! Fabi!" every time he stepped on the floor.
There was loud applause and appreciative whistles for every move the Germans made
-- except when they were in the middle of their routines. Then, there was respectful silence.
Of course when the Chinese were on parallel bars, it wasn't exactly a coincidence that the background house music got cranked up a couple of notches.
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"Everybody thinks it's harder to compete in your own country, but for me, it's just more motivation," Hambuechen said. "I feel stronger than ever on these days in Stuttgart, and I hope it will go on over the next days."
While China and Japan battled for gold, Germany was rock steady, mixing in a few splashes of brilliance. Robert Juckel landed his vault
-- two somersaults off the horse -- with precision, and Thomas Andergassen muscled his way through the still rings.
The best, though, came from Hambuechen. His high bar is worth the price of admission, a mix of flips, twists and pirouettes that is exactly what the gymnastics folks envisioned when they came up with the event.
Still, with the meet winding down, Germany looked as if it might need some help to get on the podium.
Enter the Americans.
They were sitting fourth with two events to go and likely to move up a spot. South Korea, the team ahead, had two of its weakest events, while the Americans closed with high bar and floor, two places they can post big scores.
But David Durante and Sasha Artemev both flopped off the high bar on release moves, and Horton's routine wasn't nearly as polished as usual. The team posted three scores below 15
-- China counted two sub-15 scores the entire day Thursday -- and dropped to sixth place.
"I wanted to hit a perfect routine and got ahead of myself," Artemev said. "Instead of thinking about staying on, I was trying to do it really perfect. ... I feel bad. The medal was in our hands."
Instead, it was in the Germans' hands. Hambuechen took the floor knowing he only needed to be clean to clinch the medal. His score of 15.65 put the Germans 1.25 points ahead of the United States and secured their spot on the podium, and pandemonium reigned in the arena.
"I don't know why," he said, laughing, of why he performs best when the pressure is at its highest. "But when I competed the first time on the podium, it was just exactly this feeling. I just love to perform in front of people, and they cheer just for me. It's just that feeling."
When Hambuechen's score was posted, his teammates jumped up and down for joy. Fans waved flags, sang and tooted their horns. Nobody even noticed that Xiao Qin was still flipping and twisting on the high bar, trying to finish out China's latest gold medal.
This was Germany's day, Germany's triumph. And no one, not even mighty China, could disrupt it.
"The crowd cheered, and it was motivation," Hambuechen said. "I thought OK, 'Let's keep it going.' It worked."
[Associated Press;
by Eddie Pells]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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