PARIS (AP) — Japan beat longtime rival China to win the gold medal in men’s artistic gymnastics at the Paris Olympics.
PARIS (AP) — Japan beat longtime rival China to win the gold medal in men’s artistic gymnastics at the Paris Olympics on Monday, while the United States won bronze, its first medal since 2008.
This was Japan’s eighth gold medal in team competitions and their first since Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
China’s Su Weide fell twice on the horizontal bar, allowing Japan to overtake their rivals in the final slalom, winning by just 0.532 points.
The U.S. men’s team, which finished fifth in the qualifying round, ended a 16-year winless streak, delighting dozens of fans who waved American flags and chanted “USA, USA” throughout the night.
The United States won the bronze medal with a total score of 257.793 points, beating Great Britain.
Russia, which won gold at the Tokyo Olympics, did not compete because of its role in the war with Ukraine.
China won the qualifying round, beating reigning world champions Japan.
The two athletes competed in the same group and began the competition with floor exercise, with China taking the lead midway through the competition and looking certain to win their first gold medal since 2012.
But while Sugino Takaaki, Oka Shinnosuke and Tokyo Olympic all-around champion Hashimoto Taiki produced superb performances on the horizontal bar to help Japan turn the tables, Su stumbled.
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