New Orleans -- Dominique Moceanu, the 13-year-old who dazzled judges and fans in winning the National Gymnastics Championships all-around title, returned to earth Saturday in the event finals -- falling off the uneven bars and teetering on the balance beam.
After finishing third on the vault, Moceanu was beginning her dismount on the uneven bars when her hands slipped. She landed on her knees and skidded to the end of the mat, then bounced up and took her bow. The fall dropped Moceanu to dead last with a 9.262.
On the balance beam, Moceanu had trouble coming out of the third layout and slipped to the side of the beam before catching herself. She scored a 9.1 and finished fifth out of six.
Moceanu came back on her final event, floor exercise, showing the form that helped her become the youngest all-around champion ever in the senior competition. She earned a 9.8 and came in second.
"I guess I wasn't as focused as I was supposed to be," Moceanu said. "This will help me though. I'll learn from it."
On Friday, Moceanu was poised as she won the senior women's all-around in her first try, outdistancing defending champion Dominique Dawes and two-time winner Shannon Miller, after Miller fell on the beam.
"I would say she's still 13 1/2," Moceanu's coach, Bela Karolyi, said. "It's hard for anyone to come back from a very big night and do well. It takes a pretty good chunk of your energy."
On Saturday night, it was the old pro, Dawes, who glittered in the finals.
Dawes, at 19 the oldest competitor among the women, brought the crowd to its feet with a fast-paced yet sensuous performance on floor that featured an opening sequence of 11 forward and backward flips. It earned her a 9.9.
"It was the first time I really performed my new floor routine," she said. "I was really proud."
Dawes also finished first in the uneven bars, fourth in the vault and third on the beam.
Dawes and Moceanu were the only women to qualify for all four events.
Miller won the vault with a score of 9.837. She was third on floor with a 9.775 despite stepping out of bounds.
Doni Thompson and Monica Flammer tied for the gold on the balance beam.
John Roethlisberger, who on Thursday became the first man in 28 years to win four all-around titles, won two of the four individual events he qualified for on Saturday.
Roethlisberger, 25, of Minneapolis, fell on the pommel horse, the second event of the competition, and finished fourth. He came back to finish first in the parallel bars and high bar. He was second in rings.
"I was really disappointed after the pommel horse," Roethlisberger said. "After that, I really bore down. I wanted to end on a high note."
Paul O'Neill of Mandan, N.D., won the rings. David St. Pierre of Culver City, Calif. won the vault. Daniel Stover won the floor exercise. Mark Sohn of Arlington Heights, Ill., won the pommel horse.
