GYMNASTICS / WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS : O’Neill Wins Rare Medal for American Men

Paul O’Neill, 28, of Mandan, N.D., became first American man to win a medal at the World Gymnastics Championships in 15 years when he won a silver medal in the rings event Saturday at Brisbane, Australia.

The last American men to win medals at the World Championships were Bart Connor in the parallel bars and Kurt Thomas in the floor exercise in 1979.

Yuri Chechi of Italy won the rings for the third consecutive year, with 9.787 points. O’Neill had 9.725 points.

O’Neill, who only competes in the rings, probably will not be able to compete in the 1996 Olympics.

“I’m a rings specialist, but unless they change the rules to include more than all-around competitors, I won’t be able to go,” he said.

While O’Neill was producing a surprising result for the American men’s team, women’s star Shannon Miller, winner of the all-around title Friday, met with misfortune in the vault Saturday.

Miller, the last of eight competitors in the vault, scored 9.825 points on her first attempt to lead the competition. But she fell on her dismount on her second vault and finished seventh overall with a score 9.543, far back of Romanian gold medalist Gina Gogean’s total of 9.812.

Miller, 17, of Edmond, Okla., had won the all-around competition thanks to an outstanding performance on the vault. She needed to score 9.775 on her two vaults, and scored 9.812.

In other events, Vitaly Scherbo, showing flashes of his old form, won the men’s floor exercises, and Luo Li, a tiny 17-year-old from China, received 9.912 points--the highest score of the championships so far--to win the women’s uneven bars.

Scherbo, 22, of Belarus won his first title of the championships after having finished a disappointing third in defense of his all-around title earlier in the week and struggling during qualifying events.

Scherbo won six gold medals at the 1992 Olympic Games and three at last year’s World Championships.