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LONDON  McKayla Maroney can assume severe.

She has a antagonism face that comes with a glare. But afterwards she had an absurd abatement on a almost accessible basement Sunday, Maroney, who had coined the appellation "Fierce Five" for the U.S. gold-medal women's gymnastics team, was not astringent or angry but a abashed jailbait who approved her best to be a grown-up.

 And again Maroney cried. Her tears broiled her architecture and fabricated her articulation shake.

"I'm blessed to be the Olympic argent medalist," Maroney said. "I absolutely am."

The happiness, though, hadn't yet registered.

Sandra Izbasa of Romania was the agitated gold advocate at North Greenwich Arena, scoring an boilerplate of 15.191 on her two vaults. Maria Paseka of Russia took the brownish with 15.050 points. Maroney's silver-medal account was 15.083.

In Sunday's aboriginal accident final, the men's attic exercise, Zou Kai of China won gold, aloof advanced of Japan's anew crowned Olympic all-around champion, Kohei Uchimura. Denis Ablyazin of Russia got the bronze. American Jake Dalton was fifth.

And on the assault horse, Britain's Louis Smith was a admired — and Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, was in the army to acclamation him on. But it was Hungary's Krisztian Berki who got the gold. Smith and Berki had the aforementioned absolute score, 16.066, but Smith absent out in the tiebreaking procedure. Max Whitlock of Britain took the bronze.

But the big agitated was Maroney's silver.

The 16-year-old from Long Beach is the arresting apple basement best and was the accord Olympic admired afterwards she had denticulate 16.233 in the aggregation antagonism on a basement alleged the Amanar, the best difficult basement women perform.

And afterwards three of the six women who alveolate afore Maroney in the eight-woman final fell or stumbled or alike denticulate a aught (Canadian Elsabeth Black) for not hitting any allotment of the landing area with anxiety afore face, it seemed Maroney could be relaxed.

Instead, Maroney said she was nervous. Afterwards she fell, alike admitting she was still in aboriginal with alone Izbasa left, Maroney said she knew what she had lost.

"I already knew that I appealing abundant alone had the argent medal," she said. "I absolutely didn't deserve to win a gold badge if I abatement on my butt. I'm still blessed with a silver, but it's still aloof sad."

Before Maroney competed Sunday, her American assistant Gabrielle Douglas, the new Olympic women's all-around champion, alleged Maroney's Amanar basement "the beast."

"How she gets so high," Douglas said. "I'm so amazed. When she does it at camp, the [vault] actually shakes."

Maroney did a competent Amanar as her aboriginal of two appropriate vaults. She had denticulate a 16.233 in the aggregation competition, but Sunday there was added of a footfall on the landing.