Shannon Miller's upset stomach Saturday didn't stop the American gymnast from adding the uneven bars title to the all-round gold she won at the World Championships.
It may even have helped.Miller's coach, Steve Nunno, pulled the 16-year-old out of the vault final, so she could rest and concentrate on the uneven bars, one of her strongest events.
A puzzled buzz went around the National Exhibition Center when Miller did not appear for the vault final, won by Yelena Piskoun of Belarus with a score of 9.762.
But the 4-foot-9 Miller appeared for the uneven bars final to throw everything into her one routine of the day. She scored a 9.887, the best of either men's or women's competition with one day of the six-day championships to go.
"She wasn't feeling well. She had a sour stomach," Nunno said. "I felt that it was probably most important that rather than risk an injury on the vault we would save the energy she had and go for gold on the bars."
Miller, who won two silver and three bronze medals at the Barcelona Olympics, had just one thing on her mind.
"I certainly was hoping to win gold," Miller said. "It's the best routine I have done since I have been here. My coach made the decision to pull me out of the vault. It would have been harder to medal in that anyway."
Dominique Dawes won the silver with 9.800 to make it a first ever 1-2 finish for the United States in a world championship event.
"I was very excited when I won the silver medal since I made a small mistake on the routine," said Dawes, 16, of Silver Spring Md.
"My experience in the worlds has been very exciting and has helped my ranking."
Miller was not the only one to feel shaky.
Vitali Scherbo, who won six gold medals at last year's Olympics and captured the men's all-round title here, finished last on the pommel horse after two mistakes landed him back on the floor.
First, he broke the rules by touching the apparatus with his feet and had to stop. Then, he lost balance and slipped back onto the floor for an 8.125, easily the worst score of the eight finalists.
By contrast, North Korean Pae Gil Su seemed totally in control on the pommel and never wavered on the way to a score of 9.750 for the gold medal.
Germany's Andreas Wecker, who won bronze in the all-round final on Thursday, finished second in the pommel and won two silvers in one day. He also placed second on the rings, which was won by Yuri Chechi for Italy's first ever gold in the world championships.
Scherbo, from Belarus, placed second equal in the floor exercises behind Gregori Misiutin of Ukraine, who scored a 9.400 to win gold. Scherbo tied with Britain's Neil Thomas with 9.350 for the silver.
Second place for Thomas provided the host nation with its first world championship silver in 104 years of competition. Britain has never won a gold.