Japan’s Shinnosuke Oka Wins Men’s All-Around Title; Defending Olympic Champion Daiki Hashimoto Falters

AP

4:50 JST, August 1, 2024

PARIS (AP) — Shinnosuke Oka of Japan won the men’s all-around gymnastics title at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday, upsetting the two main favorites in a nail-biting contest.

The former junior world champion won with a total of 86.832 points ahead of Zhang Boheng and Xiao Ruoteng, both of China, to claim his second gold medal in three days at his first Olympics.

Defending champion Daiki Hashimoto of Japan fell during his pommel horse routine, finishing sixth. Despite Hashimoto’s struggles, it was another sweet evening for Japan, which produced a remarkable last-minute turnaround in the team final on Monday to edge China on the last rotation.

Along with Hashimoto, Zhang was the other top contender, but he got off a shaky start on the floor exercise that cost him the gold despite a strong finish. Zhang had dominated qualifying ahead of the 20-year-old Oka and Hashimoto.

Oka, who won the junior world title when he was 15, made the most of the favorites’ mistakes. He delivered a solid pommel horse routine to surge into the lead after two rotations, then stuck a marvel vault. He was as impressive on the two remaining apparatuses, the parallel bars and bar.

Zhang had dominated qualifying ahead of Oka and Hashimoto.

The trio started in the leaders’ group. Hashimoto got off the blocks with an excellent floor routine, mixing clean passes and stuck landings. Zhang had a shaky start, bouncing onto the mat after landing on his hands and knees on his second pass.

The unusual error left him trailing more than a point behind his Japanese rival. But it was Hashimoto’s turn to falter when he fell off the pommel horse after losing his balance. Hashimoto put his hands behind his head in frustration, finished his routine, then received a massage on the same right shoulder that had seemed to bother him during qualifying.

Zhang seemed hampered by a physical problem, too, and received regular massages throughout the evening on his left arm.

He fought hard until the end, earning a 15.300 on the parallel bars that put him back in contention and capped his evening with a 14.633 on the high bar. That was too little, too late, losing the gold medal for 0.233 points.

Hashimoto and Zhang have built a gripping rivalry over the past three years and were expected to be the main protagonists on Wednesday. Zhang was the world champion in all-around in 2021 ahead of Hashimoto, who claimed the world title by defeating Zhang the next year. But it was Oka, who recently resurfaced at the top, who grabbed the spotlight, giving Japan a fourth straight Olympic all-around title.

There were no athletes from powerhouse Russia because of the war in Ukraine.

The women’s all-around final will take place Thursday. Simone Biles and her U.S. teammate Suni Lee are set to become the first two Olympic all-around champions to face one another in the competition.