China's Zou unfazed by elusive 6th gold

Zou Kai gave his performances in London a positive evaluation after falling just short in his quest to become the first Chinese sportsperson to win six Olympic gold medals. The 24-year-old gymnast claimed his fifth gold by retaining his men's floor title on Sunday, having earlier helped China to glory in the men's team final, but had to make do with a bronze medal in Tuesday's high bar final. The defending champion on the high bar, Zou recorded a strong score of 16.366 points but saw first Fabian Hambuchen of Germany and then the Netherlands' Epke Zonderland better his mark to leave him in third place. Zou, who won three gold medals at the Beijing Olympics four years ago, was critical of his routine afterwards. "Today my performance wasn't perfect," he said. "I wasn't stable and I lost balance. So for me, whatever the colour, I'm not happy and feel it was a pity. "It was primarily about the landing, the final step. I made a little mistake, but when all the athletes are at the same level, a little mistake can make a big difference." Although he failed to add another gold medal to his collection, Zou said he was pleased by his overall display at London's North Greenwich Arena. "Every competition feels the same, but I felt a lot less of a burden about getting gold in this competition (the high bar)," he said. "I'm very satisfied with these results. I've won two golds and one bronze medal. I can't win them all." Zou's sixth Olympic gold could yet arrive at the Rio Games in 2016, but he revealed that he is still to make a decision about his future in the sport. "I haven't thought about it," he said. "I'm going to take it step by step. "As a member of the Chinese gymnastics team, we have lots of members. Maybe next year or in the next two years I'll have to retire because there is young talent coming up." China secured three other medals on the final day of the London gymnastics tournament, with Feng Zhe triumphing on the parallel bars and Deng Linlin and Sui Lu picking up gold and silver in the women's balance beam final. Sui, the defending world champion on the beam, was left in tears after Deng pipped her to the top step of the podium by just 0.100 points, but the 20-year-old had composed herself by the time she arrived for her press conference. "I am the world champion on beam and there was a lot of expectation for me," said Sui. "Being first up on the beam also gave me some pressure. But I am satisfied. I performed well. "I congratulate (Deng) and I'm very happy because we are from the same country. She had a better execution score than me."