Hangzhou, China, September 28, 2023: Korea’s Kim Han-sol defended his title by winning the gold medal in the men's floor exercise during the Apparatus Finals at the Asian Games on Thursday afternoon at Huanglong Sports Centre Gymnasium.
The 27-year-old Kim’s winning total score was 14.900 points, well above China’s Zhang Boheng, the silver medalist, and Lin Chaopan, the bronze medalist, who both finished with 14.333.
Kim, who was also the champion in Indonesia in 2018, performed a dynamic routine on the floor that included multiple aerial somersaults and twists and earned a score that none of his competitors could approach.
An Changok of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea claimed both of the gold medals on offer for the women this day -- in the vault and uneven bars.
An was an easy winner in the vault with 14.049. An’s teammate Kim Sonhyang took the silver at 13.600, while China’s Yu Linmin picked up the bronze at 13.533.
The 20-year-old An Changok was also victorious on the uneven bars with a mark of 14.266. Japan’s Mikako Serita captured the silver at 13.933, while China’s Zuo Tong, the all-round champion, got the bronze on 13.866.
Oksana Chusovitina, the 48-year-old gymnastic legend, finished a very respectable fourth on 13.383 to the delight of the appreciative crowd.
In other action, Chinese Taipei’s Lee Chih-Kai triumphed in the pommel horse with 15.500. Japan’s Ryota Tsumura claimed the silver at 15.166, while Kazakhstan’s Nariman Kurbanov collected the bronze at 15.100.
Lee said he changed his movements during his routine on the horse.
“I made a little mistake at the beginning, so I made adjustments as soon as possible,” Lee noted. “It was more important to finish it completely first, and then I quickly made the decision and made some corrections."
China’s Lan Xingyu scored a big win on the rings. Lan’s winning tally was 15.433, far ahead of Vietnam’s Khanh Phong van Nguyen who took the silver at 14.600, and Japan’s Wataru Tanigawa who was awarded the bronze on 14.300.
“My movements on the rings today were pretty good, but there were still some shortcomings when I landed, and I didn’t get a higher score,” Lan stated.
Lan said he is thinking about how he can improve in the future.
“The difficulty level should be improved a bit,” Lan commented. “I think I should make more improvements in other events for next year’s Paris Olympics.”