CHINA WINS MEN'S TITLE AFTER SCORE IS SETTLED U.S. 2ND DESPITE MIX-UP.

Byline: Jill Painter Staff Writer

ANAHIEM - The U.S. men were agonizingly close to their first World Gymnastics Championships title.

Until a controversial vault score, that is.

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) noticed the errant score and adjusted it. Morgan Hamm was given a higher score than he should have earned after he omitted part of his routine mid-air by not completing a full twist in a vault.

Even with the original score Hamm received, the U.S. still would not have won gold.

China won the gold medal in the men's team competition and the U.S. earned the silver medal Tuesday at the Pond.

The U.S. finished second - tying its best finish at the World Championships - and Japan third. The U.S. also finished second in 2001.

China scored 171.996 points and the U.S. 171.121.

The U.S. might not have won gold but it sure went a long way to gaining hope for a gold medal at the Olympics next summer in Athens.

``It does prove that we're world contenders,'' USA coach Kevin Mazeika said. ``We're getting close.''

The U.S. was good but had too many little mistakes to overtake China.

The Americans were close after Hamm's vault.

He bailed on his original vault, choosing to water it down. But the judges didn't notice and still gave him credit for a tougher vault.

The FIG changed Hamm's score from a 9.512 to a 9.112.

Even though China already had locked up the title before the U.S. competed on the high bar, the U.S. needed solid routines to secure the silver. And that's exactly what it got.

Blaine Wilson, 29, had an electrifying routine on the high bar and was awarded a 9.787.

After he stuck his landing, he got a huge high-five from Mazeika and then bowed to the crowd.

Jason Gatson had another good day and was a crowd favorite. After he hit his parallel bars routine, he went back to pick up something. The crowd still was screaming for him.

The U.S. had three brilliant routines on the rings, which prompted chants of ``USA! USA!'' Each of the three routines was better than the one before it.

After three events, the U.S. pulled into second, two-tenths of a point behind China. But that was as close as the U.S. got.

It became clear after two of the six events that this was a two-team race. And it became clear after the U.S.'s score was adjusted that it would take a couple of falls for China to be denied the title.

China's last event was the high bar and all three gymnasts hit their routines. Teng Haibin finished last with a 9.725. After he stuck his landing, his coach picked him up and China celebrated.

Even though the U.S. still had to complete the high bar, it would have had to average nearly a 9.9 on each routine to overtake China.

Belarus won the world championships last year but didn't even qualify for the finals this year. China would have been favored to win but it took its second-string team last year.

The U.S. was favored to win worlds after it had the best score from Saturday's qualifying competition. Even though they had the best score, the Americans were shaky on several events.

Gatson, who had six surgeries in the past four years, completed the first routine for the U.S. but he didn't stick the routine like he did in qualifying Saturday.

Gatson stumbled and put his hand down on his third pass and scored a 8.976. But the Hamm twins picked up the slack. Paul scored a 9.675 and Morgan a 9.625.

In his first event, Olympic gold medalist Alexei Nemov, from Russia, had a great high bar routine - with four release moves - and scored a 9.712 to put Russia ahead of the U.S. after one event.

China - which won gold at the Sydney Olympics - moved into first after two events with a solid pommel horse showing. China then hit all three of its routines on the rings to maintain its first-place lead.

Tuesday's competition featured a ``three up, three count'' format. Each team selected only three athletes to compete in each event and all three scores counted, which caters to consistent teams and exposes those which make mistakes.

One big mistake could cost a team a medal. France's Cedric Guille fell on his stomach off the high bar, scoring a 8.725 and that put his team out of contention.

--Olympic tuneup: The Pacific Alliance Championships will be April 13-18 at the University of Hawaii, it was announced Tuesday. Itis one of the final gymnastics meets for the U.S. before the Athens Olympics.

Along with the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand and the Philippines are scheduled to compete.

``It will truly be a precursor for what you're going to see from those countries in Athens,'' said Bob Colarossi, the president of USA Gymnastics.''

The event also will be held in Honolulu in 2006.

Staff writer Ramona Shelburne contributed to this report.

Jill Painter, [phone]

jill.painter(at)dailynews.com