Gymnastics: Supporting the guys

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BEIJING -- It sounded like a Miley Cyrus concert at the National Indoor Stadium Saturday afternoon. The Chinese women’s gymnastics team was in a roped-off area of the stands waving Chinese flags, stomping their feet and yelling high-pitched cheers for the men’s team.

When all-around favorite Yang Wei received a score of 16.225 on his still-rings routine, a score that took longer than normal to be posted, there was booing from the crowd, and some of the girls gestured with their hands seeming to indicate the score was too low.

The Chinese women compete in the first qualifying session at 10 a.m. Sunday but they didn’t seem to be worried about overexertion Saturday. The U.S. women were not in the arena when the U.S. men competed.

-- Diane Pucin

photo: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times