Gold medalists team Japan, silver medalists team China and bronze medalists team USA pose during the victory ceremony for the men's team of artistic gymnastics at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Cao Can)
PARIS, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Japan surged past China on the final apparatus of horizontal bar to win the men's gymnastics team final at Paris 2024 on Monday, for their eighth Olympic title in the event.
Japan trailed by 3.267 points going into the horizontal bar prior to China's Su Weide's two falls in his routine, allowing Japan back into the lead. Zhang Boheng's 14.733 fell short of the 15.265 that was needed for China to catch up in the title contest.
Japan's Daiki Hashimoto and his teammates combined for a total of 259.594, 0.532 ahead of China, who had to settle for silver.
"I felt the rest of the team was all behind me," Hashimoto said of the moment he went to the high bar. "They pushed me on to the stage. I was almost crying before the routine."
Japan last won the team gold in Rio 2016, followed by a silver in Tokyo. China took back-to-back bronze medals at the last two Olympics, after having taken gold in 2000, 2008 and 2012.
The U.S. took the bronze with 257.793 after bouncing back from a sloppy performance in the qualifications that placed them fifth. The last time they won an Olympic medal was also a bronze in 2008.
China's men couldn't hold back tears when the scores flashed on the screen. They walked back to the athletes' section in single file, eyes red, with Zhang trying to cheer them up and waving to the crowd.
"We wanted to reach the podium and we had a pretty good start," said Xiao Ruoteng, the Tokyo all-around silver medalist. "We came a long way but didn't have our best performance on the last apparatus."
The veteran Olympian said he could not see himself at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, but instead said he would get ready for the upcoming all-around final.
Japan, consisting of Hashimoto, Shinnosuke Oka, Takaaki Sugino, Kazuma Kaya and Wataru Tanigawa, took the lead early with brilliant floor routines before China took over the lead, capitalizing on a miscue by Hashimoto, who came off the pommel horse in his routine.
China's Liu Yang put on an excellent rings display, together with Zou Jingyuan's performance of 16.000 on parallel bars, which helped China build up their advantage going into the crucial high bar routine. ■
Silver medalists team China react during the victory ceremony for the men's team of artistic gymnastics at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Dawei)
Gold medalists team Japan react during the victory ceremony for the men's team of artistic gymnastics at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Dawei)
Gold medalists team Japan react during the victory ceremony for the men's team of artistic gymnastics at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Cao Can)
Silver medalists team China show their medals during the victory ceremony for the men's team of artistic gymnastics at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Cao Can)
Bronze medalists team USA show their medals during the victory ceremony for the men's team of artistic gymnastics at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Cao Can)
Zhang Boheng of team China reacts after the rings of the men's team final of artistic gymnastics at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Cao Can)
Zou Jingyuan of team China competes during the rings of the men's team final of artistic gymnastics at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Cao Can)
Zou Jingyuan of team China competes during the rings of the men's team final of artistic gymnastics at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Cao Can)
Liu Yang of team China competes during the rings of the men's team final of artistic gymnastics at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Cao Can)
Hashimoto Daiki of team Japan reacts during the men's team final of artistic gymnastics at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Cao Can)
Oka Shinnosuke of Japan celebrates after the horizontal bar event of the artistic gymnastics men's team final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)
Sugino Takaaki of Japan competes during the horizontal bar event of the artistic gymnastics men's team final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)
Hashimoto Daiki (L) of team Japan and Zhang Boheng of team China react after the men's team final of artistic gymnastics at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Cao Can)
Zhang Boheng of China competes during the parallel bars event of the artistic gymnastics men's team final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)
Hashimoto Daiki of Japan celebrates after the horizontal event of the artistic gymnastics men's team final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)
Kaya Kazuma of team Japan reacts during the parallel bar of the men's team final of artistic gymnastics at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Cao Can)
Zhang Boheng of team China competes during the parallel bar of the men's team final of artistic gymnastics at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Cao Can)
Zhang Boheng of China competes during the rings event of the artistic gymnastics men's team final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)
