The Women’s Sports Foundation chose Olympic Gymnast, Nastia Liukin as their individual Sportswoman of the Year at their annual banquet on Tuesday. The 18-year-old Liukin won five medals at the Beijing Games, including the Gold Medal in the women’s all-around competition.

US Women’s Softball player, Jessica Mendoza was awarded the Team Sportswoman of the Year award.

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Liukin Named Sportswoman of the Year

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Behind the Scenes at the Tour of Gymnastic Superstars

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Nastia Liukin on Conan O’Brien

The Disney-sponsored 2008 Tour of the Gymnastic Superstars kicked off on Sunday, September 7 in Reno. The 36-city tour features stars from the US mens and womens Olympic gymnastic teams, including Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin, as well as favorites such as Paul and Morgan Hamm and Shannon Miller. The Tour will criss-cross the United States until November 16. For times, dates, and locations–and to buy tickets–click on the icon above.

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Tour of the Gymnastic SuperStars

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Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin on Oprah

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Oprah Hosts Olympians

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Nastia Liukin’s Olympic Journey

After a week of Silver Medals–in the team, the all-around competition, and the floor exercises, American gymnast, Shawn Johnson has a Gold Medal. She earned the medal in the balance beam competition on Tuesday, with a stellar score of 16.225. Her teammate, Nastia Liukin earned the Silver Medal and China\’s Cheng Fei took the Bronze Medal.

^{(photo © Newscom)}

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Shawn Johnson Wins Gold

There have been a few surprises in the women’s individual gymnastics competitions. In the floor exercises, Romania’s Sandra Izbasa edged out the American women by just .15 points for the Gold Medal. Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin of the United States took the Silver and Bronze Medals.

In the vault, Alicia Sacramone of the United States, a three-time world medalist on the vault, sought to redeem herself for her mistakes in the women’s team competition, but it wasn’t to be. Although she performed two solid vaults, she didn’t have the difficulty factor to earn a medal. North Korea’s Hung Un Jong finished first for the Gold Medal, followed by Germany’s Oksana Chusovitina (at 33-years old) for the Silver and China’s Ching Fei for the Bronze. Sacramone finished fourth.

Monday, in the uneven bar competition, China’s He Kexin edged out Nastia Liukin in a tie-breaker for the Gold Medal. Liukin earned the Silver and China’s Yang Yilin earned the Bronze.

The women’s balance beam competition is scheduled for Tuesday morning in Beijing.

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Women’s Individual Gymnastics Results

Actually it was a combination of the Chinese women\\\’s strong performances and the American women\\\’s mistakes that earned China the women\\\’s team gymnastic Gold Medal and the defending Olympic champion US team the Silver Medal. It started off well enough for the US, with all three gymnasts–Alicia Sacramone, Shawn Johnson, and Bridget Sloan–nailed their vaults. Johnson, Nastia Liukin, and Chellsie Memmel (competing with a broken ankle) were outstanding on the uneven bars. However, on the final two aparatuses, the team faltered. Sacramone fell off of the balance beam (below) even before her routine began and she landed on her backside instead of her feet during one tumbling pass in the floor exercises. It was more than enough to give the Chinese women the Gold.

The American team has been plaqued with injuries during and leading up to the Beijing Games. Shayla Worley fractured her leg during the Olympic selection camp. Chellsie Memmel injured her ankle shortly after arriving in China (the extent of which was not revealed until after last night\\\’s competition); and Samantha Peszek injured her ankle just prior to Sunday\\\’s qualifying round and did not compete in the finals on Wednesday.

The Romanian Team earned the Bronze Medal.

Individual competitions begin on Friday (Thursday night on US television). Johnson and Liukin will compete in the all-around event.

(Image of Alicia Sacramone © Newscom)

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China Bests USA in Women’s Gymnastics