But horizontal bar nearly brought Yang a last-minute defeat as he was seen on the verge of losing grip of the bar. When he survived, the crowd burst into cheers and chants "Yang Wei, Yang Wei". Broad smile came to his face for the first time.

Yang Wei of China celebrates after winning the men's individual all-around artistic gymnastics gold medak at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 14, 2008. [Agencies]

"I had experience such as excelling on five apparatus but failed the last. I also had experience of losing the first but succeeding on the remaining five. Things of such kind cannot affect me any more," said Yang.

"The gold medal is meaningful because it's China's second men's all-around gold and also the second under the guidance of coach Huang Yubing," he said.

Yang and China's first men's all-around gold medalist Li Xiaoyuang are both from China's Hubei province. "I am happy as it's the second men's all-around gold medal from Xiantao city of Hubei province," he said.

Yang's teammate Chen Yibing, a rings specialist, tried hard to pull back from a crushing start on pommel horse.

He dropped shortly after his mount and placed 23rd. But the highest 16.650 points on his specialty sent him to 10th and he even made it to 3rd with consistent efforts.

But a fatal blow came after he fell from the horizontal bar. He even did not finish his routine and finished in last place.

Kohei Uchimura also nearly ruined his chance after a disastrous performance on pommel horse. He dropped twice and scored as low as 13.275 points. But his stable performance throughout the rest of the competition brought him to second berth among the 24 finals.

"I exhausted myself in the team competition and also has injuries. I can feel weakness and injuries during my pommel horse routine. So I gave up today's competition. I must save my energy for my individual titles, " said Chen Yibing after the competition.

He also said his teammate Yang is above the field and deserves the gold. "He trained so hard for so many years and the gold should be his," he said.