On June 22, Kevin Tan received word he would travel to his father's homeland to represent his own.

The former Penn State gymnast and six-time All-American was named one of the six members of Team USA who would compete in Beijing as part of the XXIX Olympiad. The Olympics held a special meaning for Tan, whose father is a Chinese immigrant.

"It was surreal," Tan said of the accomplishment. "I couldn't believe it. It was something I worked so hard for. It took some time for it to sink in."

Less than two months later, Tan stood on the medal podium at National Indoor Stadium after captaining his country to a bronze medal. Going into the competition, few thought the team would earn a medal after brothers and team stars Paul and Morgan Hamm withdrew because of medical reasons.

The United States finished with 275.850 points, good enough to hold off Germany, which tallied 274.600 points for fourth place. China captured the gold in front of its home crowd while Japan took silver.

"Everyone just jumped up and down and went crazy," Tan said of the moment Team USA was announced as the bronze medal winner. "It's not every day you come out with an Olympic medal."

Tan was voted captain of Team USA by his teammates and called it "a responsibility and an honor." His job as captain included keeping the lines of communication open between gymnasts and coaches and making sure everyone was on the same page. It was not Tan's first time captaining an international competition team -- he also captained the U.S. in the 2006 World Championships.

"He's been the captain for a couple different world championship teams," Penn State gymnastics coach Randy Jepson said. "I know the team appreciates his calmness."

Like all elite gymnasts, competing in the Olympics had always been in the back of Tan's mind. It wasn't until his career at Penn State ended, however, it seemed within his reach.

"I decided to make that step and the commitment," Tan said of pursuing his goal of competing in Beijing. "Before that it was a dream but not really a reality."

Tan finished third at this year's Visa Championships to earn a trip to the Olympic Trials at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. He proceeded to punch his ticket to Beijing after taking first in his specialty event, the still rings.

Jepson, who traveled to the Olympics with Tan, said his athlete's accomplishment meant fulfilling a long-term objective.

"I'm just thrilled Kevin could achieve what he wanted to," Jepson said. "We sat down early on and he had aspirations he wanted to achieve."

Tan has also served as an assistant coach for Penn State during the past three seasons. His experience in Beijing allowed him to earn valuable experience that could be put to use in his coaching career.

Current Lion All-American Casey Sandy said the Olympics will impact Tan's coaching style.

"I definitely think it will just because he has experience at the Olympics under his belt," Sandy said. "He was able to see the best in the world compete. He actually might give us a little more motivation for training."

Tan, who won back-to-back NCAA titles for the Nittany Lions on the still rings in 2003-04, just missed out on advancing to the finals in his signature event. His score of 15.725 wasn't enough to beat out Romania's Robert Stanescu, who scored a 15.750.

The close margin between Tan and Stanescu was a result of the International Gymnastics Federation's new scoring system, which made its debut at the Beijing Olympics.

Each gymnast begins his routine with a degree of difficulty, then points are deducted from 10 for miscues. Therefore, unlike previous Olympics, strong routines scored in the 15-to-16 point range because the traditional "perfect 10" no longer exists. The system was devised to remove some of the sport's subjectivity. However, it has been criticized for not fulfilling its promise.

"The design is that it would be a little less subjective, but it's all smoke and mirrors," Jepson said. "It's just different. There's no perfect system -- in a subjective sport you're going to have opinions that effect outcomes. We still have that situation."

While Tan said the scoring is "definitely subjective," he downplayed the importance of the system on his performance. He added that the United States taking the floor first increased the difficulty of the event.

"I feel it's just a tough position to be the first team up in an event," Tan said. "On top of that, the routine was pretty good, it just didn't get me in the finals."

Along with the still rings, Tan also competed on the pommel horse during the team competition. However, his performance wasn't as strong as it was on the rings.

Tan missed a hand placement and stopped mid-routine, resulting in a disappointing end on the last day of gymnastics competition.

"Pretty much I missed my hand on one of the skills and fought to stay on," Tan said. "After finishing a routine it was just 'don't let it get to me' and just finish up the meet."

Jepson said Tan was unable to get as many reps on the pommel horse as he would have liked because he sprained a thumb in practice just days before the Olympics. The injury caused Tan to miss nearly a week of training.

Despite the unfortunate end to his Olympic experience, Tan had no misgivings about his time with Team USA.

"We definitely went in knowing what we could do and the fact we came out with the bronze is exciting," Tan said. "To be captain was special. We had a great group of guys and we were like family out on the floor."

Jepson agreed with Tan's evaluation of the Olympics.

"I thought it was a great pinnacle to his career so far," Jepson said. "I just think more than anything he was glad to be a part of that team and bring home some hardware."