BEIJING -- It really won't make any difference with the big party (and maybe a parade) they'll throw for Nastia Liukin back home in Texas. Still, winning a gold medal in her signature event, the parallel bars, would have been a nice addition to the big-time gold she already has in the all-around.

And a case could be made that Liukin actually did win gold, as she had the same score on the bars, 16.725, as China's He Kexin. But this being the maddeningly arcane world of gymnastics, it didn't work like that.

The gold went to He because of a tiebreaker system put in place by gymnastics' international governing body (FIG) at the request of the International Olympic Committee. Liukin really didn't understand why she received a silver, and she was hardly alone in her confusion.

"I'm a little disappointed knowing that I tied," she said. "It wasn't like I got second by 3 or 5 tenths. I had the same exact score, that's what makes it a little harder to take. But you can't control the judges. After you land your dismount, it's all up to them, and you kind of have to leave it at that."

Liukin did indeed stick her dismount, which in itself was a big victory for her. She has an exceptionally difficult bar routine and hadn't nailed her dismount with it in a competition previously this year.

So why did she come away with silver instead of gold? Do you really want to know? OK, take a deep breath.

Gymnastics implemented a new scoring system in 2006. The scores now come from two different groups. The A jury (two judges) calculates the difficulty score, which measures difficulty and technical content.

The B jury (six judges) rates the execution score, which measures execution, artistry and technique and does so by deducting from the standard of a perfect 10. The high and low marks are then dropped, and the score is the average of the four remaining judges.

So after this, both gymnasts had the same 16.725 score. Then the first tiebreaker was an average of those four B jury judges' deductions for each gymnast.

That didn't change anything; they were still tied. Then the highest deduction of the four was tossed, and the remaining three were averaged. And it was here that He finally prevailed, as her average deduction was 0.933 to Liukin's 0.966. If you still don't have a clue what any of this means, you're in good company.

Luikin's father and coach, Valeri, himself a former Olympic gymnast, has spent his whole life in the sport. And even he said, "I don't think a lot of people know what's going on right now. I have no idea, either."

Valeri won one of his gold medals, in fact, in a tie with a Soviet teammate in the 1988 Olympics. FIG officials said the IOC wanted a tiebreaker put into place, however, after the 1996 Atlanta Games.

"That's the rules, and you have to play by them," Liukin said. "Getting my medal, the FIG official that was up there, she said, 'Sorry, it's too bad about the rules.' "

He and Liukin were the first two gymnasts to compete, then they watched the other six. It was during that wait that Liukin started to wonder if there was just something wrong. She didn't understand why she was listed on the scoreboard as second.

"I didn't say anything to my dad at first," she said, "I just was like, 'OK, am I that tired?' I know it's been a long week. I kept looking at it, and there was a 1 by her name and a 2 by my name. Then I'm like, 'Dad, we got the same score.'?"

Liukin, however, did not complain at all about anything afterward. In fact she even volunteered the opinion that the bronze medalist, China's Yang Yilin, appeared to her to have been underscored.

Liukin also didn't engage in the ongoing debate about whether He or Yang are even old enough to legally be in the Summer Games, which requires gymnasts to be at least 16 in the Olympic year. Media reports have suggested both may be no older than 14.

"She's an excellent athlete no matter how old she is," Liukin said of He. "I have no idea and can't answer [if He is underage], but she's done her hard work and her preparation and she deserved that Olympic gold medal today."

But a lot of people would say that Liukin deserved it, too. Liukin said she would not dwell on it and would instead focus on her upcoming beam competition and then her trip home, where she will celebrate with family, friends and her community. The all-around title is the most coveted, and she owns that gold.

"At the end of the day, like my dad told me," Liukin said, "I have the most important medal."