China's "king of rings" ends Olympic career in disputed scoring (2)

"But what can I do? According to rules you can question only the points to yourself, you are not allowed to question point to other competitors," explained Chen.

"You can raise dispute only for your difficulty, but not for execution. It's a result you can only accept instead of reasoning."

Chen, dominant in the apparatus since he made a sensation victory at 2006 worlds, has won gold in his specialty at four of the past five world championships. His four world championship golds rank him only second to Italy's Yuri Chechi, who has five.

After its seven-gold-medal performance at the Beijing Games in 2008, the Chinese men's gymnastics team was hit with a wave of retirements.

There have been times in the ensuing years when Chen Yibing wished he would've been among them.

And yet here he is, the defending champion in the rings and the team competition, back in London as the core of a young team.

Chen admitted he's worried he'll end his career on a sour note prior to the London Olympic Games, and it turned out to be a controversial scoring to make a great story sour.

Chen is set to retire after the national games next year and will finish his graduate courses in the Beijing Physical Education University.

Before the rings final, Chen, as the team captain, had propelled China to defend the team title.