Leszek Blanik of Poland gestures on podium during the awarding ceremony of the Men's Vault Final of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Gymnastics Artistic event at National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China, Aug. 18, 2008. Blanik claimed the title of the event with a score of 16.537.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

Leszek Blanik(L) of Poland celebrates with his coach after the vault performance during gymnastics artistic apparatus finals of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China, Aug. 18, 2008. Leszek Blanik claimed the title of the event with a score of 16.537. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Leszek Blanik won the gold medal in the men's vault on Monday at the Beijing Olympics, the first gymnastics title for Poland in its Olympic history.

    In a black-and-white gymnastic suit, Blanik collected 16.537 points in two jumps, both with the second highest difficulty of 7.0, only lower than Romanian veteran Marian Dragulescu's 7.2.

    Thomas Bouhail from France gained the same score in the final, but his highest score out of the two jumps was lower than Blanik's. Bouhail settled the silver at last according to the tie-breaking rule.

    The bronze went to Anton Golotsutskov from Russia who accumulated 16.475 points.

    Thee-time Olympian Dragulescu gave a next-to-perfect performance in his first routine, raising the hope to claim the second gymnastic gold for Romania at the Beijing Olympic. However, he failed to give sufficient height to his second jump and lied down on the mat with his face down, crashing the medal hope into ashes. He ranked the fourth in the final by scoring 16.225 points.

    "I would like to thank my coach for his help for years," said Blanik after the final.

    As for the performance of Dragulescu, Blanik said "I think he is a great gymnast. It is unlucky that his second jump failed. I had thought he would win."

    Blanik had remained cautious about his medal prospect during the training period in Beijing.

    "So far I am just expecting to be a finalist in the vault competition. That is the first step, and then I will think of a medal because it is the Olympic Games which is more important than world championships and anything could happen in the Olympics,just like lottery," the gymnast told Xinhua before the qualification.

    On missing the chance to claim an Olympic medal, Dragulescu said "I am unlucky in the Olympics. In Athens I was a favorite, but I made the same mistake like today. I am a multiple world champion, but in the Olympics, I haven't won a Gold medal."

    Dragulescu had planned to retire after the Beijing Olympics. "The Beijing Games is very important to me because it will be my last time to take part in gymnastic competitions. I wish I could realize my dream and capture an Olympic gold, and then bid farewell to the podium," Dragulescu told Xinhua before the qualification.

    "I am getting old and hope I can be in the best shape during the competition," added Drgulescu. He was the bronze medalist in the men's vault in the Athens Olympics and two-time world champions.

    The men's vault has been dominated by Dragulescu, Blanik and Sydney and Athens Olympic title holder Gervasio Deferr from Spain in recent years.

    After Deferr landed short on vault and had no chance to make the final, Monday's contest turned into a duel between Dragulescu and Blanik, Olympic bronze medalists in vault in 2000.

    The bronze medalist in the men's all-around, Benoit Caranobe of France,sat on the mat in landing in his second jump and ended up to the fifth.