updated 1:44 p.m. ET Aug. 22, 2004

One of the youngsters finally beat the master.

Ukranian Yuri Nikitin won gold in the men’s trampoline Saturday, scoring 41.50 points to edge five-time world champion Alexander Moskalenko of Russia. Moskalenko, who won trampoline’s first gold medal in Sydney, took the silver with 41.2. Reigning world champion Henrik Stehlik of Germany won the bronze with 40.80.

No U.S. athlete qualified for the men’s event in trampoline.

“Of course, I would have liked to have placed first, but it didn’t happen,” Moskalenko said. “I am only second. But we will see in 2008 at the Olympic Games in Beijing.”

Moskalenko is considered one of the greatest trampolinists ever. He retired after winning his third world title in 1994, thinking there was nothing left in the sport to accomplish. But when trampoline was added to the Olympic Games, Moskalenko reconsidered.

He started competing again in 1998 and won another world title in 1999. Then he won the gold in Sydney in a rout, beating silver medalist Ji Wallace by more than two points.

But Moskalenko isn’t a kid anymore. Two months shy of his 35th birthday and with the hair at his temples now gray, the master is finding the kids bouncing closer and closer. Stehlik beat him at the world championships last year, and now he had to listen to someone else’s anthem in Athens.

“Now that I have won the gold medal, I don’t know what to say,” Nikitin said. “I’m really shocked.”

Moskalenko appeared to be golden in the eight-man finals. Doing the second-most difficult routine, he soared 20 feet in the air and flipped and twisted as if he was weightless. While other athletes land all over the canvas, looking very much like little kids in their backyard, Moskalenko always seems to find himself in the center of the mat.

When he finished his routine, he bowed to the crowd and then pumped his right fist. He didn’t show any reaction when his score flashed, simply walking back to the warm-up area.

But Moskalenko’s stay at the top didn’t last long. Nikitin’s routine had the same difficulty as Moskalenko’s, but he did his just a little bit better. His skills were a little big higher, this twists a little bit tighter, his landings a little more precise.

And when he finished, Nikitin was just a little bit ahead.

“Of course, I am not as young as I was in Sydney, and I’ve had more injuries,” Moskalenko said. “When we talk about Sydney, that was the reason I came back into the sport. Then with Athens, I always told myself, ‘I have to. I have to. I have to.’ It was like a duty and that thought created a lot of extra pressure.”

All three medalists also said they were affected by the size of the Olympic Indoor Hall. The arena seats 17,501 and is bigger than they are used to, and they got to practice in it only once before the competition.

“I think even my mistake was because, when I was jumping, I wasn’t sure how high,” Moskalenko said. “I think I’m just getting old, that’s all.”

Trampoline - Men's (medals: Aug. 21st) Medal Athlete Country Result Gold Yuri Nikitin Ukraine 41.50 Silver Alexander Moskalenko Russia 41.2 Bronze Henrik Stehlik Germany 40.8 NBCO: Schedules, preliminary result and complete final results

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