Loading
Search
▼ Olympics: Japan's Oka Wins Men's Individual All-Around Gymnastics Gold
- Category:Other
Japan's Shinnosuke Oka won the men's all-around gymnastics gold medal at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday, with compatriot Daiki Hashimoto finishing sixth in his attempt to defend the title he won three years ago in Tokyo.
First-time Olympian Oka totaled 86.832 to top the podium 0.233 ahead of highest qualifier Zhang Boheng of China, whose countryman Xiao Ruoteng claimed bronze 0.468 back of the winner at Bercy Arena.
"I think I performed quite well overall across the six events, despite some mistakes," Oka said. "But after all, it is more about how the judges see and rate it."
The result mirrored the men's team competition two days earlier, which saw Japan narrowly beat China to the gold medal in a battle that came down to the last routine.
The 20-year-old Oka was part of the victorious Japanese quintet led by Hashimoto, who was aiming to emulate his boyhood idol Kohei Uchimura in going back-to-back as men's all-around champion.
"I've been training aiming for both team and individual gold and I'm really happy that it paid off," said Oka, who extended Japan's men's all-around win streak to four straight Summer Games.
On top after the second rotation, the pommel horse, Oka briefly relinquished the lead but regained it on the vault and headed Tokyo silver medalist Xiao and Zhang going into the final apparatus, the horizontal bar.
Having earned 14.500 on the horizontal bar, Oka endured a nervous wait for the judges to read out the score for final competitor Zhang before being announced as the new Olympic champion.
"Of course, there was nervousness, but I clung to the enjoyment of the moment, really embracing all the emotions," Oka said.
"(On the horizontal bar) I made sure I was on top of certain points and I tried to stay calm. I didn't want to do anything half-baked."
The 22-year-old Hashimoto ran into trouble on the pommel horse, the same apparatus from which he fell during the team competition. He also had difficulty on the rings, leaving him with too big a gap to make up to the leaders.
"I didn't give much thought to winning back-to-back titles today," a visibly upset Hashimoto, who struggled pre-games with a finger injury sustained in May, said.
"Having got back to where I am after the injury, I was feeling satisfied from winning the team gold. I am more happy than frustrated and tears have come out."
One of the favorites for gold after excelling in qualifying, Zhang got off to a bad start when he fell on his floor exercise, leaving him near the bottom of the standings at the end of the first rotation.
He fought back with big scores on the next four apparatuses, however, earning a shot at gold with the final routine of the men's gymnastics program in Paris.
While disappointed to fall short, the 24-year-old was already looking forward to his next competition.
"I enjoy the stage," he said. "There's nothing to regret. Life is like this, we look forward. What else can we do?"
First-time Olympian Oka totaled 86.832 to top the podium 0.233 ahead of highest qualifier Zhang Boheng of China, whose countryman Xiao Ruoteng claimed bronze 0.468 back of the winner at Bercy Arena.
"I think I performed quite well overall across the six events, despite some mistakes," Oka said. "But after all, it is more about how the judges see and rate it."
The result mirrored the men's team competition two days earlier, which saw Japan narrowly beat China to the gold medal in a battle that came down to the last routine.
The 20-year-old Oka was part of the victorious Japanese quintet led by Hashimoto, who was aiming to emulate his boyhood idol Kohei Uchimura in going back-to-back as men's all-around champion.
"I've been training aiming for both team and individual gold and I'm really happy that it paid off," said Oka, who extended Japan's men's all-around win streak to four straight Summer Games.
On top after the second rotation, the pommel horse, Oka briefly relinquished the lead but regained it on the vault and headed Tokyo silver medalist Xiao and Zhang going into the final apparatus, the horizontal bar.
Having earned 14.500 on the horizontal bar, Oka endured a nervous wait for the judges to read out the score for final competitor Zhang before being announced as the new Olympic champion.
"Of course, there was nervousness, but I clung to the enjoyment of the moment, really embracing all the emotions," Oka said.
"(On the horizontal bar) I made sure I was on top of certain points and I tried to stay calm. I didn't want to do anything half-baked."
The 22-year-old Hashimoto ran into trouble on the pommel horse, the same apparatus from which he fell during the team competition. He also had difficulty on the rings, leaving him with too big a gap to make up to the leaders.
"I didn't give much thought to winning back-to-back titles today," a visibly upset Hashimoto, who struggled pre-games with a finger injury sustained in May, said.
"Having got back to where I am after the injury, I was feeling satisfied from winning the team gold. I am more happy than frustrated and tears have come out."
One of the favorites for gold after excelling in qualifying, Zhang got off to a bad start when he fell on his floor exercise, leaving him near the bottom of the standings at the end of the first rotation.
He fought back with big scores on the next four apparatuses, however, earning a shot at gold with the final routine of the men's gymnastics program in Paris.
While disappointed to fall short, the 24-year-old was already looking forward to his next competition.
"I enjoy the stage," he said. "There's nothing to regret. Life is like this, we look forward. What else can we do?"
- 1/8 19:17
- Comment (0)
- Trackback(0)