Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson Shine during Olympic Women's Gymnastics Finals

When asked for an adjective to describe the Women's Gymnastics All-Around Finals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, several words readily come to mind: Incredible. Astounding. Beautiful. Shocking.

Shocking? Yes. In a competition filled with surprises and twists (both literal and figurative), one thing was clear: the Americans and the Chinese were battling for gold. With only three contenders left to compete, though, a country on the Asian continent held the lead, but it wasn't China; Russia's Semenova Ksenia delivered a breathtaking routine that clenched first place. Her astounding performance set the bar high and left the remaining competitors' standings in question.

There was no question, though, that the best was yet to come. The remaining three competitors, Yilin Yang from China and Americans Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin, ultimately surpassed Ksenia to clench medals. As the competition drew tighter and tighter, each competitor knew that she must deliver a flawless routine; a single step out of bounds could mean the difference between taking home a medal and going home empty handed.

Although Yang delivered an impressive performance that could be likened to a child whimsically playing in a field, the few mistakes she made yielded a 15.000 floor score, easily enough to outpace Russia and raise the bar higher for the Americans.

Not to be outdone, American Nastia Liukin followed Yang with an astounding, awe-inspiring exhibition. The Moscow native, who moved to Texas as a child, performed to the best of her abilities, bringing down a floor score of 15.525. This score gave her a total of 63.325, a score that was all but impossible to beat.

The real shocker occurred when the final competitor, American Shawn Johnson, took the floor. Heavily favored to capture the gold, the 16-year old Johnson found herself in a situation in which she would have to deliver an unquestionably perfect performance just to inch ahead of her teammate. Rising to the occasion, Johnson refused to succumb to the pressure. She performed practically flawlessly, even solidly sticking a difficult routine she had previously deemed too risky. As she finished in a pose that could only be described as artistic, commentators began to wonder whether her performance could possibly receive a perfect score. Certainly, Johnson had proven herself an accomplished athlete, one who made perfectly clear why she was so favored to win the competition.

In the end, though, her near-perfect performance wasn't enough to overtake the lead. With a floor score of 15.525, the same as her American teammate, Johnson was only able to capture the silver medal, relinquishing the gold. At the close of the competition, Nastia Liukin, herself the daughter of a former gold medalist, stood atop the podium.

As disappointed as Shawn Johnson may be, perhaps she can take solace in the idea that, at just 16 years old, she may yet have something that Liukin doesn't: another shot at the gold in London in 2012.