Sandra Izbasa takes gymnastics gold, Romania's second at London Olympics

Romanian Sandra Raluca Izbasa has won gold in the gymnastics vault competition. She took Romania's second gold at the London Olympics with her final jump, overcoming the reigning vault world champion, McKayla Maroney, from the US. Romania's latest Olympic star won with an average of 15.191 for her two vaults.

The American led after the first round, when she executed a highly technical Amanar vault. However, she failed to land her second, easier vault properly, ending up on her bottom. This gave Sandra an opening, which she took with the final vault in the competition. Sandra Raluca Izbasa (in pictures, above and below) is the current European champion, after winning the vault at the recent championships. Russian Maria Paseka took the bronze medal, with a score of 15.050, while the American McKayla Maroney's 15.083 gave her the silver. Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com photo source: London 2012 official site