PARIS (AP) — The Japanese men’s gymnastics team claimed Olympic gold with an epic comeback over its top rival.
With China looking poised to claim its first Olympic title in 12 years with one rotation to go, Japan surged ahead to win the Paris Olympics men’s team competition Monday after an intense and nail-biting duel.
The Japanese overtook their rivals on the final rotation, after China’s Su Weide fell twice off the horizontal bar. Japan won with a small margin of 0.532 points.
The Americans earned bronze for their first medal since 2008.
The Chinese had dominated qualifying ahead of Japan, the reigning world champion.
They faced off in the same group, starting their competition on floor exercise. China looked set for its first gold medal in the competition since 2012 after taking the lead midway through the competition.
But Takaaki Sugino, Shinnosuke Oka and Tokyo Olympics all-around champion Daiki Hashimoto nailed Japan’s comeback with excellent displays on the horizontal bar while Sue faltered.
Sue was the weak link in the Chinese team, also botching a landing on vault.
It was Japan’s eighth team gold and first since Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
After qualifying in fifth place, the U.S. men ended a 16-year drought to the delight of the dozens of fans waving American flags who chanted “USA, USA” throughout the evening.
The Americans posted a total of 257.793 points to edge Britain for the bronze.
Russia, which won gold at the Tokyo Games, did not compete because of its role in the war against Ukraine.
Hashimoto, who had appeared to be dealing with right shoulder discomfort during qualifying, fell midway through his pommel horse routine.
He finished better but put on a somber face after his dismount and briefly put his head in his hands, knowing that his score of 13.100 would dent his team’s hopes of a gold medal. He recovered quickly and delivered an excellent vault, then capped his evening with an excellent 14.566 on the horizontal bar.
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