Paris, France, July 29, 2024: Japan came out on top of a tense and absorbing battle with China to win the men’s team gold in artistic gymnastics at Bercy Arena on Monday, July 29.
Japan won the six-discipline team competition with a total of 259.594 points, just 0.532 points ahead of China with 259.062. The United States took the bronze with 257.793.
Tokyo 2020 all-around champion Daiki Hashimoto recovered from an uncharacteristic error to lead Japan to gold in the closing moments of the men’s team final.
Hashimoto, who fell on pommel horse, performed a clutch routine as the last Japanese competitor on horizontal bar in the final rotation. His score of 14.566 points lifted Japan into first place, earning them their eighth men’s team gold in Olympic Games history.
The Chinese were leading going into the final rotation but they slipped to silver when Su Weide fell twice on horizontal bar.
Hashimoto summed up the feelings in the Japanese camp.
"It's a very passionate and strong-willed team. The five of us, along with our coaches who stuck with us until the end, made for a formidable unit.
“We were unified, and I believe we were an exceptional team because of our dedication and passion."
Japan’s gold medal-winning team was comprised of Hashimoto, Kazuma Kaya, Takaaki Sugino, Shinnosuke Oka and Wataru Tanigawa.
China’s silver medal-winners were Liu Yang, Su Weide, Xiao Ruoteng, Zhang Boheng and Zou Jingyuan.