Daiki Hashimoto competes on the pommel horse during the men's all around final at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, Oct. 5, 2023. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)
Olympic champion Daiki Hashimoto of Japan retained his all-around title at the World Championships.
ANTWERP, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo Olympic champion Daiki Hashimoto of Japan secured his second consecutive world all-around title with 86.132 points on Thursday in a thrilling final at the 52nd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships.
With his gold, Hashimoto becomes the first man to repeat as world all-around champion since Japan's Uchimura Kohei, who won six titles in a row from 2009 to 2015.
Silver medalist Illia Kovtun of Ukraine emerged from deep within the chasing pack to earn his second world all-around medal in three years with a score of 84.998. As the bronze medalist on his World Championships debut in 2021, he was only the 19th best performer in qualification in Antwerp.
Illia Kovtun, Daiki Hashimoto and Frederick Richard (L to R) pose with their medals for the men's all around. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)
19-year-old Frederick Richard of the United States ended a 13-year U.S. men's medals drought by clinching bronze in his first individual world final.
The competition was tight through the first four rotations where less than a point separated the six leading performers: China's Sun Wei, Hashimoto, Kovtun, Jake Jarman of Britain, Richard, and top qualifier Kenta Chiba of Japan.
Unlike his rivals, Hashimoto made his biggest mistake early in the first rotation of floor exercise. He scored only 13.466 points, landing him only 17th among the 24 competitors.
However, he finished all the other five apparatus with top three scores and took the highest score of 14.500 in the last rotation on the horizontal bar.
Sun Wei in action on the rings during the men's all around final. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)
China's 28-year-old Sun Wei led the overall scores before the fifth rotation of the floor exercise where he stepped out of bounds to incur a 0.3-point penalty. Sun then lost control on the pommel horse as he fell off twice to finish with only 12.300. His total score of 82.698 landed him in seventh place.
The Antwerp event continues with the women's all-around final on Friday evening, with China's 16-year-old world debutant Qiu Qiyuan joining the competition. ■
