Aly Raisman Wins 2012 Olympic Women's Gymnastics Balance Beam Bronze Medal

American gymnast Aly Raisman can now add an individual Olympic medal to her trophy case after winning bronze in the women's balance beam final on Tuesday.

Raisman earned a 15.066 after appealing her original score of 14.966. Raisman finished tied with Romanian Catalina Ponor, but her higher execution score gave her the tiebreaker for bronze. 

China took home gold and silver, with Deng Linlin and Sui Lu finishing first and second respectively.

Place	Name	Country	Score
1	Deng Linlin	China	15.6
2	Sui Lu	China	15.5
3	Aly Raisman	USA	15.066
4	Catalina Ponor	Romania	15.066
5	Ksenia Afanasyeva	Russia	14.583
6	Larisa Iordache	Romania	14.2
7	Gabby Douglas	USA	13.633
8	Viktoria Komova	Russia	13.166

For Raisman, the podium finish serves as sweet redemption after she missed out on a medal in the women's individual all-around last week despite tying bronze-medal winner Aliya Mustafina in the total score. Mustafina won on a tiebreaker.

However, Raisman has rebounded exceptionally and has now benefited from a similar rule to the one that cost her bronze in the all-around.

During qualification, Raisman posted the fifth-best balance beam score, earning a 15.100, so this performance can't be classified as a surprise; rather, it's vindication for one of the world's top gymnasts and best beam artists.

The United States' team success in the first week at London was thrilling for Raisman and her teammates. Still, one can imagine there is nothing like winning an individual Olympic medal.

All of the time and effort Raisman put into her preparation over the years and the sacrifices she has had to make have been worth it.

Raisman will now have at least one individual Olympic memory that brings a smile to her face.

The 18-year-old will finish her Olympic debut in the women's floor exercise final, where she will be put to the test against U.S. teammate Jordyn Wieber.

Follow Bleacher Report Featured Columnist Patrick Clarke on Twitter for more reaction on the 2012 London Olympics this summer.