SYDNEY, Australia (AP) _ _ With a sitdown on the vault and a surf on the beam, the Americans are 0-for-Sydney.

Blaine Wilson finished sixth in the vault finals and Elise Ray was eighth in the balance beam Monday, ending any hope the Americans had of winning a gymnastics medal in Sydney.

The American women finished fourth and the men fifth, and no one won any individual medals. It's the first time the United States has been shut out of a gymnastics medal since 1972, not counting the boycotted 1980 Olympics in Moscow.

"You always come in expecting to win. You don't come in expecting second or third," Wilson said. "Whatever. But I'm tired of explaining the fact that winning a medal doesn't make you a person. That's all there is to it."

While the Americans couldn't manage to win a medal, Alexei Nemov kept adding to his haul. The Russian, who won the men's all-around, collected his fifth medal of the games Monday with a bronze on the parallel bars.

He still had a chance to tie his six from Atlanta in the high bar.

Gervasio Deferr of Spain won gold in the men's vault, while Li Xiaopeng won gold on the parallel bars. China's Liu Xuan won the gold in the balance beam.

Wilson, the five-time national champion, was America's best hope to end the drought. Though he's struggled in Sydney, he's been consistently solid on vault.

Not Monday.

The vault has been a huge blemish on the games after it was set almost two inches too low for the women's all-around, possibly costing Russia's Svetlana Khorkina the gold medal. It looked as if something might be wrong again Monday, as gymnast after gymnast slipped, slid and sat down.

Wilson, going last, almost landed on his backside on his first vault and had to crabwalk backward to keep himself from falling. He nailed his second vault, but its start value was only a 9.60, not enough to put him back in the running for a medal.

"I knew this was coming. Vitaly said so many times, `Learn another 10.0 vault,"' Wilson said, referring to coach Vitaly Marinitch. "I said, `Yeah, right.' Then, sure enough."

After Wilson fell, Deferr pumped his hand in triumph. He didn't have any troubles with the vault, slamming his legs into the mat and not moving an inch.

Cameras closed in on Deferr as Wilson's score flashed, and he reached out and kissed the lens of one.

Alexei Bondarenko of Russia took the silver and Leszek Blanik of Poland won gold.

With Wilson done, it was up to Ray.

Beam isn't the national champion's strongest event, and she had trouble. On her aerial somersault, she had a shaky landing, wobbling back and forth so much she almost looked like she was surfing.

Ray managed to hold on, but her 9.387 wasn't good enough for a medal.

Yekaterina Lobazniouk of Russia won the silver medal, and Yelena Prodounova of Russia took the bronze.

(Copyright 2000 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)