BEIJING • Alicia Sacramone fell on the balance beam, then again during the floor exercise. Shawn Johnson didn’t live up to the hype. And nobody else other than Nastia Liukin did much to help the cause.

Faced with unbelievably high expectations after a win at the 2007 world championships, the U.S. faltered on the big, pressure-packed stage, stumbling to a silver medal Tuesday in the gymnastics team final.

China won gold by 2.375 points in front of a thunderous home crowd, benefiting from He Kexin’s near flawless parallel bars routine and Cheng Fei’s strong finish on the floor. Romania took bronze, five points behind the U.S.

The reigning all-around world champion, Johnson hardly showed the flair that recently propelled her onto the international scene, turning in a floor score 0.325 of a point below her preliminaries mark.

A seven-time world medalist, Sacramone lost her footing on her mount onto the beam and tumbled to the ground. She also couldn’t keep her feet on the floor, where she ended up on her backside after a short second landing.

“I am disappointed,” U.S. coach Marta Karolyi said. “I know we are just as strong as the Chinese team, but we didn’t prove that.”

Karolyi took issue with the judges, saying China “got a little bit high scores. We just get the scores that we deserve, and they are a little bit more lenient with them.”

She blamed Sacramone’s beam fall on two delays in competition.

“The Chinese finished, so they automatically should put her name, and it wasn’t up,” Karolyi said. “She was mentally ready to go, but they didn’t put her name. Then they put her name with a stop sign and again an unusual hold, and I don’t know what reason.”

The U.S. briefly had the lead after parallel bars, where Liukin notched a 16.900, the top American mark of the day. Liukin also excelled on the beam, with a 15.975, equaling her qualifying mark.

Chellsie Memmel posted a 15.725 on the parallel bars, her only event. Bridget Sloan scored a 15.200 on the vault, her only event. Samantha Peszek did not compete.

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US gymnast Alicia Sacramone, left is consoled by teamate Nastia Liukin after falling on her floor exercise during the Women’s Team Final. Photo by BY MARK REIS, THE GAZETTE