U.S. wins gold, silver in women’s all-around

BEIJING - Nastia Liukin of the United States won the gold medal in women’s gymnastics Friday, beating teammate and friend Shawn Johnson.

Liukin, whose father was a double gold medalist for the Soviet Union 20 years ago, finished with 63.325 points, more than a half-point ahead of Johnson, the reigning world champion. Johnson finished with 62.725. Yang Yilin of China won the bronze medal.

Liukin and Johnson have been friendly rivals the last two years, with Johnson winning almost everything. But Liukin came through when it counted, and is now an Olympic champion.

This is the first time the United States has claimed the gold and silver in the women's all-around.

Swimming
American swimmer Michael Phelps blew away the competition in the 200-meter IM on Friday, leading in all four legs to finish in a world-record time of 1 minute, 54.23 seconds to win his sixth gold of the Beijing Olympics.

Laszlo Cseh of Hungary took the silver in 1:56.52, his third runner-up finish to Phelps in these games. Phelps’ teammate Ryan Lochte earned the bronze in 1:56.53, just 29 minutes after he upset defending champion Aaron Peirsol, also of the United States, to win the 200 back in yet another world-record time. Peirsol earned the silver.

In a surprise win, U.S. swimmer Rebecca Soni claimed the gold medal in the 200-meter breaststroke in a world-record time of 2:20.22.

Just minutes after winning the 200 meter, Phelps qualified second-fastest for the 100-meter butterfly.

Beach volleyball
Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh won their 105th straight match when they took down Belgium's Liesbet Van Breedam and Liesbeth Mouha 24-22, 21-10 to advance to the quarterfinals.

The Associated Press and NBCOlympics.com contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com