Poland's gymnast Leszek Blanik claimed the men's vault title. [Xinhua]

Poland's gymnast Leszek Blanik claimed the men's vault title with 16.537 points at the Beijing Olympics on Monday, the first gymnastics title for Poland in its Olympic history.

In a black-and-white gymnastic suit, Blanik collected 16.537 points with two jumps, both with the second greatest difficulty of 7.0. Thomas Bouhail from France who gained the same score in the final, took the silver at last according to tie-breaking rules.

The bronze went to Anton Golotsutskov from Russia who accumulated 16.475 points.

Thee-time Olympian Marian Dragulescu gave a next-to-perfect performance in his first jump, raising the hope to claim the second gymnastics gold for Romania at the Beijing Olympics. However, he failed to give sufficient height to his second jump and lied down on the mat with face down, crashing his medal hope into ashes. He ranked the fourth by scoring 16.225 points.

The bronze medalist in the men's all-around, Benoit Caranobe of France,also sat on the mat in landing in his second jump and ended up the fifth.

Blanik had remained cautious about his medal prospect during the training period in Beijing.

"So far I am just expecting to be a finalist in the vault competition. That is the first step, and then I will think of a medal because it is the Olympic Games which is more important than world championships and anything could happen in the Olympics, just like lottery," the gymnast told Xinhua before the qualification.

On missing the chance to claim an Olympic medal, Dragulescu said "I am unlucky in the Olympics. In Athens I was a favorite, but I made the same mistake like today. I am a multiple world champion, but in the Olympics, I haven't won a Gold medal."

Dragulescu had planned to retire after the Beijing Olympics. "The Beijing Games is very important to me because it will be my last time to take part in gymnastic competitions. I wish I could realize my dream and capture an Olympic gold, and then bid farewell to the podium," Dragulescu told Xinhua before the qualification.

"I am getting old and hope I can be in the best shape during the competition," added Drgulescu. He was the bronze medalist in the men's vault in the Athens Olympics and two-time world champions.

The men's vault has been dominated by Dragulescu, Blanik and Sydney and Athens Olympic title holder Gervasio Deferr from Spain in recent years.

After Deferr landed short on vault and had no chance to make the final, Monday's contest turned into a duel between Dragulescu and Blanik, Olympic bronze medalists in vault in 2000.

The bronze medalist in the men's all-around, Benoit Caranobe of France, sat on the mat in landing in his second jump and ended up to the fifth.

(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2008)