At a group practice the other day, a Chinese coach ambled up to his American counterpart and pointed at a U.S. gymnast on the horizontal bar.

"What's the start value?" he asked coach Ken Mazeika.

End of conversation.

The American gymnast was Jonathan Horton, and he was working on moves he never had displayed in competition.

Until Tuesday night.

With an Olympic medal on the line, the University of Oklahoma student let it fly at National Indoor Stadium, gambling he could hang on long enough to stand with the winners.

"I hit the floor, and I looked at (coach) Mark (Williams) and said, 'Can you believe that just happened?' " Horton said. "I knew instantly I was going to medal. . . . I'm a daredevil, and I just went crazy."

So did Horton's teammates and coaches when he mounted the podium to accept a silver medal, one of the biggest surprises for an American men's team full of them. If not for a shaky dismount, Horton would've won. Instead, China's Zou Kai narrowly took the gold.

Horton's normal routine has a start value of 6.4, well behind other finalists. Throw in the new tricks, and it was up to 6.9, giving him at least a shot at a medal.

"If I don't gamble, I'm not going to medal," he said. "If I do gamble and fall, I'm not going to medal. But if I stay on, I'm going to medal. . . . I've done every one of those skills before, just never all together in a single routine. I trust myself. Go big or go home, that's my motto."

After Paul and Morgan Hamm pulled out of the Games with injuries, the American men seemed headed for big trouble.

But Sasha Artemev, of Highlands Ranch, saved a bronze team medal with a stunning pommel horse routine - the first breakthrough. Horton delivered surprise No. 2.

Men's horizontal bar: 1. Zou Kai, China, 16.200. 2. Jonathan Horton, Houston, 16.175. 3. Fabian Hambuechen, Germany, 15.875. 4. Igor Cassina, Italy, 15.675. 5. Takuya Nakase, Japan, 15.450. 6. Hiroyuki Tomita, Japan, 15.225. 7. Epke Zonderland, Netherlands, 15.000. 8. Yann Cucherat, France, 14.825.

Men's parallel bars: 1. Li Xiaopeng, China, 16.450. 2. Yoo Wonchul, South Korea, 16.250. 3. Anton Fokin, Uzbekistan, 16.200. 4. Fabian Hambuechen, Germany, 15.975. 5. Mitja Petkovsek, Slovenia, 15.725. 6. Huang Xu, China, 15.700. 7. Yang Taeyoung, South Korea, 15.650. 8. Nikolay Kryukov, Russia, 15.150.