Nastia Liukin saved her best for last, winning the balance beam title today, while new all-around champion Shawn Johnson won the floor exercise to add yet another gold medal to her collection from the world gymnastics championships.

That gives the U.S. women four of the six gold medals at worlds. Throw in Liukin's silver on the uneven bars, Alicia Sacramone's silver on floor and her bronze on vault, and the Americans won seven medals here.

Not a bad way to go to next year's Beijing Olympics.

"I don't think it could've worked out any better," Johnson said.

The Germans might not stop partying until next year's opening ceremonies after their favorite, Fabian Hambuechen, capped the day with a gold medal on the high bar. It gave Hambuechen a complete set of medals here; he also won a silver in the all-around and a bronze in the team event, Germany's first team medal since 1991.

"I just felt awesome today," Hambuechen said. "I was last on high bar, so I knew what everybody did before me. I just thought, 'OK, no risk, no fun. Just do it. And it was the best routine in my life."

China, meanwhile, was shut out from the last-day gold rush. After winning three golds Saturday, the Chinese came away with only Li Shanshan's silver on balance beam Sunday.

All-around champ Yang Wei botched his very first move on parallel bars, ending his chance of winning a second gold in a row on that event. Cheng Fei fell out of bounds on floor.

"This is a competition," Yang said. "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Very cruel."

Japan's Hiroyuki Tomita might say that about the whole week. Tomita, the world champ in 2005, fell off the high bar twice Sunday. He went 0-for-4 in individual events, leaving with only a team silver.

Mitja Petkovsek of Slovenia and Kim Dae Eun of South Korea tied for gold on the parallel bars, and Leszek Blanik of Poland won the vault.

Liukin's gold Sunday was her ninth worlds medal — fourth gold — and tied her with Shannon Miller for most by a U.S. gymnast.

Maybe her mom will come watch more often now.

Liukin's mother, Anna, a former rhythmic gymnastics world champion, gets so nervous she almost never watches her daughter compete. But it's been a tough year for Liukin and an even tougher week.

Considered by many to be the most graceful gymnast in the world and one of the best the United States has ever seen, Liukin hasn't been herself since injuring her ankle at last year's world championships. Though she did the all-around at the national championships last month, she had no chance of defending her title.

She lost an all-around medal here when she fell off the balance beam, then got edged out of the uneven bars gold Saturday by teeny Ksenia Semenova of Russia. She also fell off the beam during team finals, but the Americans still cruised to gold.

So Anna Liukin came to watch Sunday. And she's glad she did.

"It puts a little too much presure on me, as a mom," Anna Liukin said. "It kind of turns my stomach. But I did good today, so there's hope. ... I'm very happy to see her end on such a good note."

China's Li fell off the beam, but her difficulty score was so high that she tied Steliana Nistor in first place with Liukin going last. There was a small opening, and Liukin took it.

Though she wobbled on her first pass — a back handspring followed by two aerial back somersaults — she saved it and actually made it look graceful. She did her other tricks with ease, treating the 4-inch wide beam as if it were a parking lot.

And when she does her dance moves, ballerinas should take note. Liukin has her mother's elegance and body lines, and when she's on, she defines artistic gymnastics.

She waited for what seemed like forever as she readied for her dismount, and the crowd began clapping to urge her on. There was no need, as she hit the mat solidly and surely. She nodded her head in satisfaction as she climbed off the podium, and signed some autographs as she waited for her score.

When the 16.025 popped up on the scoreboard and she realized she was the winner, Liukin's eyes widened in delight. Valeri Liukin swept his daughter into a bear hug, celebrating her grit and gold.

Li and Nistor tied for the silver. Johnson finished eighth after falling off the beam twice.

"Especially after these few days, I was little more nervous because I wanted to prove to everyone that I'm still a good beam worker," Liukin said. "I wanted to go out there and show I can make a good beam routine and be on top of the world."

And get bragging rights at home, too. Valeri Liukin was a double gold medalist for the Soviet machine at the 1988 Olympics, but he only has six medals from the world championships.

"To have nine world medals, I can't really believe it," she said. "When we won the team one, I was like, 'Hey Dad, I beat you. I have seven now.' He was like, 'You beat me.'"

And Johnson might some day top Miller and Liukin. In only her first year at the senior level, she's won every competition she's entered, including the U.S. championships and now worlds.

Floor exercise is one of her favorite routines, and it's easy to see why. Her bubbly personality comes out as she dances across the floor, playing to the crowd and the judges. So, too, does her power. She gets so high on her tumbling passes it would take a very large ladder to reach her, yet she lands them with ease.

Her score of 15.250 was good enough for first place, but Cheng, the defending champion, and Sacramone, the 2005 gold medalist, were still to go. Cheng's chances ended when she went so far out of bounds, she practically toppled off the podium.

Sacramone did her usual dazzling routine that's a mix of sass and power. But she had a slight skid at the end of one tumbling pass, and that was the difference between silver and gold.

Sacramone finished 0.025 behind her younger teammate and was crying afterward.