Japan edged out China to win gold in the men’s team event in artistic gymnastics at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The battle for gold boiled down to the horizontal bar, the final of the six elements for both nations, with China entering the final rotation with a three-point lead over Japan.
China’s hopes were dashed when Weide Su took a tumble, failing to grip the bar on a jump. This mishap opened the door for Japan, and Daiki Hashimoto seized the opportunity with a stunning routine, scoring 14.566 to pile the pressure on Boheng Zhang.
Zhang, the 2021 all-around world champion, needed to score over 15 to keep China’s hopes alive. Despite delivering a slick routine, a stumble on his dismount resulted in a resigned look from Zhang. His final score was not enough to secure the gold for China.
Japan’s total score of 259.594 was just too good for China, who settled for silver with 259.062.
The bronze medal went to the USA, who edged out Great Britain and Ukraine on the back of an excellent 14.866 from Stephen Nedoroscik on the pommel horse.
