PARIS (AP) — Japan’s men’s gymnastics team has won the Olympic gold medal in a stunning comeback against its biggest rival.
With China on the verge of claiming its first Olympic title in 12 years with one rotation remaining, Japan has taken a lead to secure the Olympic Games in Paris men’s team competition on Monday after an intense and exciting duel.
The Japanese, who were more than three points behind going into the final events, overtook their rivals after China’s Su Weide fell twice on the horizontal bar and Xiao Ruoteng underperformed under pressure. Japan won by a narrow margin of 0.532 points.
Su also botched a landing on the vault earlier in the evening. He took the blame for the bitter defeat.
“Today I learned a big lesson,” Su said. “It’s a big regret. I feel sorry for my senior partners in the team. They worked very hard in this cycle, there were a lot of injuries leading up to the race and because of my mistakes today we lost the gold medal.”
Behind the two powerhouses in men’s gymnastics and in the absence of Russia, the Americans took bronze, their first medal since 2008.
The Chinese dominated the qualifiers, ahead of Japan, the reigning world champions.
They faced each other in the same group and started their competition with floor exercise. Apart from Su’s mistake on vault, China was consistent on all apparatus and took the lead halfway through the competition.
In the penultimate rotation, Zhang Boheng posted an impressive 15.100 on the parallel bars and his teammate Zou Jingyuan did even better with a rare 16.000.
But Japan always felt it could turn the tide. Takaaki Sugino, Shinnosuke Oka and Tokyo Olympics all-around champion Daiki Hashimoto helped the comeback with excellent performances on the high bar, while Sue faltered.
It was Japan’s eighth team gold and first since Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
After qualifying in fifth place, the American men ended a 16-year drought, much to the delight of dozens of fans who waved American flags and chanted “USA! USA!” throughout the evening.
The Americans scored a total of 257.793 points to beat Great Britain for bronze. Frederick Richard and Brody Malone were at their best, and every member of the American team contributed. Stephen Nedoroscikthe vaulting horse specialist joined his teammates for the final rotation.
“I had my coach by my side and he does a great job of taking the nerves out of (me) and getting me on my toes,” Nedoroscik said. “But these guys hit every routine for me and I have a stat: When people hit for me, I hit. So I went out there and did my job and enjoyed the moment.”
Russia, which won gold at the Tokyo Games, did not participate because of its role in the war against Ukraine.
Hashimoto, who appeared to be struggling with right shoulder discomfort during qualifying, fell midway through his pommel horse routine. He finished better, but wore a somber expression after his dismount. He briefly put his head in his hands, knowing that his poor score would dent his team’s hopes for a gold medal.
Hashimoto recovered quickly and delivered an excellent jump. After a massage, he ended his evening with a great routine on the high bar after failing to qualify for the eight-man apparatus final.
“Even though there were some mistakes in our routines, we kept motivating each other,” Hashimoto said. “I used the passion of my teammates in my last routine on the high beam.”
After Hashimoto’s turn, Zhang had the chance to give China the lead again, but his score was not enough.
“In the last event, we didn’t perform as well as we should have done. We ended up with a silver medal, we are indeed frustrated,” Zhang said.
The women’s final, featuring a seven-time Olympic medalist Simone Biles, takes place on Tuesday.
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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games