Last-minute gamble pays off with silver for US gymnast

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

BEIJING (AFP) — US gymnast Jonathan Horton won silver on the men's high bar Tuesday and silenced sceptics within his own team afraid he would "bomb" with a daring new routine thrown together in just a few days.

While most gymnasts spend months carefully perfecting new routines, Horton devised his in just three days after deciding he had to go for broke to have any chance of a medal in the Olympic final.

"I talked to everyone (on the US team) and they said 'why do you want to go out there, do a new routine and just bomb'," he said.

"I said 'because if I don't I won't get a medal'. Nobody really understood me. My dad was the only one who said 'go get it, go do it'."

Horton's gamble came within a whisker of giving him the gold medal, although he said he...