PHILADELPHIA — Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin are taking their rivalry to the Beijing Olympics, where it will have golden overtones.

Johnson and Liukin earned guaranteed spots on the U.S. women's gymnastics team tonight after finishing 1-2 at the Olympic trials — the same places they had at the national championships two weeks ago. As confetti rained down on them, tears filled the friends' eyes and they exchanged a heartfelt hug.

"We looked at each other for the longest time," Liukin said. "Shawn said to me, 'Can you believe it?' She's like, 'We made it.' I don't know. It's so crazy. Everything's gone by so fast. Sitting here being an Olympian, it's just amazing. I don't even have the words. It's a dream come true."

Now the fun is seeing who will join them.

The remaining four members of the team and three alternates will be named after a July 20 selection camp at the Karolyi ranch in Houston. The training squad for the final selection camp is Chellsie Memmel, Samanta Peszek, Jana Bieger, Chelsea Davis, Ivana Hong, Mattie Larson, Corrie Lothrop, Alicia Sacramone, Bridget Sloan and Shayla Worley.

Memmel continues to make her case, finishing second in the all-around Sunday night and third overall — just as she did at nationals two weeks ago. She even earned a standing ovation from national team coordinator Martha Karolyi after she closed the competition with a high-flying floor routine that had the entire arena rocking.

"Did I want to be named? Yeah, of course," Memmel said. "I feel that I belong. I finished the last four competitions in the top three, so I hope they think of me as part of the team."

Johnson and Liukin are the best thing gymnastics has going — in the United States or anywhere in the world. Johnson is the reigning world champion, a bundle of power and personality that has people comparing her to Mary Lou Retton. Liukin puts the art in artistic gymnastics, a lithe blend of beauty and grace who has won seven medals — four of them gold — at the world championships since 2005.

That they would get the two automatic spots was a given.

"It feels amazing to finally have it be reality," Johnson said. "To know I have a spot, to have earned it, to know it's actually real is 100 times greater."

Johnson is the Tiger Woods of her sport, undaunted by pressure no matter how big the stage. She didn't have a single miss during the four days of competition at the national championships and Olympic trials, and she performs with a flair far bigger than her 4-foot-9 frame. She didn't score anything below a 15.35 in the two days of trials, and posted four scores above 16.

The rest of the field managed a total of eight.

Johnson flipped and twirled on that 4-inch wide slab of wood with such confidence she may as well be in a parking lot. When she did an aerial front somersault, her feet hit the beam with such security it sent out a resounding thud. She got a 16.2 on that event, too, also the highest of the night.

Even when Johnson has trouble, she manages to wriggle out of it. She stumbled out of the landing of her second tumbling pass on floor, but quickly moved on to the next trick. On her next pass, she came dangerously close to coming out of bounds but kept her heel raised so she stayed safe.

Her score? A 16.2 that was the highest of the night on the event and sealed her trip to Beijing.

"My dream had come true," said Johnson, who finished with 127.65 points. "It's the best feeling ever."

Liukin's finish wasn't quite so satisfying. She had trouble on uneven bars and floor exercise, and didn't look as sharp as she usually does. Still, her score of 125.85 was more than a point ahead of Memmel, and her trip to Beijing was never in jeopardy.

Liukin's struggles began on her first event, bars, her signature. She has one of the toughest routines in the world, so ridiculously hard it leaves her gasping for breath. But there is no margin for error, and she got in trouble early when she lost her rhythm while doing pirouette work on the top bar. She stalled on a handstand, and the crowd gasped when she had to open and close her legs to keep her balance.

When she flipped to the low bar a few seconds later, she lost momentum and, instead of making a smooth transition, banged into the bar. Her score of 16.15 still tied for highest of the night on the event, but it was well below what she normally gets and Liukin was clearly upset as she climbed off the podium.

She looked exquisite for much of her floor routine. But she got off-balance on her third tumbling run and stumbled out of bounds.