(BEIJING) It's not as if the US, or anybody else but China, was going to win the Olympics men's gymnastics team gold medal.

So after the American men won the bronze medal yesterday, they conducted their own private celebration in the raucous National Indoor Stadium, where Chinese fans stomped their feet and waved their flags.

'We proved to the world we're a gold-medal team,' Alexander Artemev said. 'I don't think we could have done better.'

And Artemev wasn't wrong. Sometimes, bronze is as good as gold.

China won the gold medal in a rout, outscoring defending Olympic team champion Japan, 286.125 points to 278.875. The United States was third with 275.850. In 2004, with twin brothers Paul and Morgan Hamm as anchors, the Americans won silver and the Chinese were fifth, a finish that 'embarrassed' the team, according to star Yang Wei.

But even Japan's Koki Sakamoto conceded China's dominance this time. 'I think silver is good enough,' he said.

The Chinese finished first in five of the six apparatus and coach Huang Yubin joked that his hair had turned grey in the eight years between China's 2000 Olympic gold medal and this one.

'Since the 2004 Olympic Games we've faced failures and the team has been tested,' he said. 'Right now it's hard to tell whether I am excited or whether I am relaxed because we've faced so many difficulties.'

As Justin Spring said, the US faced its own difficulties. Defending Olympic all-round champion Paul Hamm withdrew from the team on July 28 with a broken hand and was replaced by alternate Raj Bhavsar.

Morgan Hamm pulled out last week with an ankle injury, but not until after the US had completed podium training, the only chance for the team to practise on the Olympic equipment. So, Artemev went from alternate to team member without getting a chance to test himself in the big arena.

'They are pretty tight at first and someone will have to help get the suit over my shoulders when pulling it up. There is definitely a knack to it and the more they get used, the easier it seems to put on. Once it's on though, I feel like I'm Batman, only in white and blue instead of black!' - British track cycling sprinter Jamie Staff explains the advantages and disadvantages of his new, high-tech skinsuit

'I'm not surprised about this whole thing,' Spring said. 'Just more amazed. We never doubted ourselves but we had to go out and hit (the routines) and that's hard to do. And for (Artemev) to do what he did, it's just amazing.'

And the medal was in Artemev's hands at the very last moment. The United States had been in second place going into the final rotation, its weakest event, the pommel horse. Artemev had been relegated to reserve status largely because he had struggled through the four-round US Olympic selection process on the horse.

The Americans put themselves in medal position with three breathless high bar routines from Joey Hagerty, Jonathan Horton and Spring. Horton, in particular, had fallen on his high bar routine during the national championships and said that he had given himself a private lecture before coming to Beijing.

'Just quit falling,' he said.

The US had the second-best score on the high bar, trailing only China. It put the Americans in second place after four rotations.

'An Olympic gold is an Olympic gold, the time, the race, none of it matters - it's all about the gold.' - Australian swimmer Leisel Jones sums up the feelings of everyone who's ever-stood atop the podium at a Games after winning the women's 100 metres breaststroke to claim her first Olympic title

On the fifth rotation, Hagerty stepped out of bounds twice on floor exercise, but Spring, who has fought injuries much of this year and had only done three competitive floor routines, took a deep breath and scored a 15.575.

'I couldn't believe I was out there,' Spring said. 'I didn't feel 100 per cent confident. I told the guys, 'I'm not as prepared as I should be on floor', and their response was that there was no one else they'd rather put up on floor. So I said, 'alright, bring it on'. I was a little sloppy, but I'll take it.'

The US led Germany by more than four points going into the final rotation, where both teams finished on pommel horse. Chinese-born Kevin Tan, the American captain, went up first and struggled so much that he sat on the horse for a moment. His score of 12.775 was the lowest by any gymnast yesterday, and Bhavsar followed with a 13.750.

Artemev went last, and pommel was the only event he did yesterday. In the team finals format only three gymnasts per country compete on each event, and US coach Kevin Mazeika picked Artemev for only one.

For more than three hours Artemev watched his teammates build a lead. 'I was telling myself, 'I'm not going to fall off this horse. Period',' Artemev said.

Horton paced nervously as Artemev flew through his routine. 'The most nerve-racking moment of my life,' Horton said. 'There are so many naysayers out there who say (Artemev) crumbles under that kind of pressure but I know better. I knew he'd do it.'

Artemev scored a more-than-respectable 15.350, the fifth-best score of the night. The Germans needed to average more than 16.0 per man to beat out the Americans. When Phillippe Boy started with a 14.675, Horton began celebrating.

'After the Hamms dropped out, I know the only ones who believed we can do this was us,' Horton said. 'I understand when two of the best gymnasts in the world drop out off the team, there's going to be some doubt. Paul and Morgan are incredible gymnasts and I kind of see what people were thinking when they dropped out. Two of the best guys in the world were gone.

'But we didn't doubt ourselves. And we were right.'

Artemev, who will join Horton as the two US representatives in the all-around finals tomorrow, said his emotions were immense.

'It's been such an up-and-down roller coaster,' he said. 'I usually get excited about things too quickly and then, if I have a letdown I get pretty angry. I was angry when I didn't make the team but I think I've taught myself to handle things more professionally. I think this proves it.'