Japan secured their eighth Olympic men’s gymnastics team gold on Monday in Paris after China faltered on the horizontal bars in the final rotation. Despite strong performances on the rings and parallel bars, China had to settle for silver in Paris 2024, while the United States took bronze, marking their first team medal since 2008.
China’s Liu Yang expressed solidarity with his teammates, emphasizing their unity in both success and failure. “We are a team, and we bear all the mistakes or poor performances together. So now, we move on and focus on the individual apparatus,” he stated.
The Japanese team, consisting of Daiki Hashimoto, Shinnosuke Oka, Kazuma Kaya, Takaaki Sugino, and Wataru Tanigawa, scored 259.594 points. China finished close behind with 259.062, and the U.S. tallied 257.793.
Initially, Britain led after the first rotation, driven by Max Whitlock’s pommel horse performance scoring 15.266. The U.S. then moved to the top following a 14.833 vault performance by Asher Hong in the second rotation. However, Japan slipped back when Hashimoto fell off the pommel horse.
China took the lead at the halfway point, thanks to Liu’s near-perfect 15.500 on the rings and impressive parallel bars routines from Zhang Boheng and Zou Jingyuan, with Zou scoring a remarkable 16.000. Yet, their lead collapsed when Xiao Ruoteng and Su Weide struggled on the horizontal bar.
Hashimoto redeemed himself with a stellar high bar routine, clinching gold for Japan. This victory was particularly sweet for Hashimoto, who had failed to qualify for the individual apparatus final after winning the high bar in Tokyo.
The women’s team final, featuring U.S. star Simone Biles, is scheduled for Tuesday, followed by the individual events starting Wednesday with the men’s all-around final.
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