PARIS– Japan overcame its long-time rival China to win gold in the Paris Olympics men’s gymnastics competition on Monday, and the Americans won bronze for their first medal since 2008.
It was the eighth gold medal for the Japanese team and the first since Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
The Japanese overtook their rivals in the final rotation, after China’s Su Weide fell twice from the horizontal bar. Japan won with a small margin of 0.532 points.
After qualifying fifth, the Americans ended a 16-year drought, to the delight of dozens of fans who waved American flags and chanted “USA, USA” throughout the night.
The Americans scored a total of 257,793 points to beat Great Britain for bronze.
Russia, which won gold at the Tokyo Games, did not compete due to its role in the war against Ukraine.
The Chinese dominated qualifying ahead of Japan, the current world champions.
They faced each other in the same group, starting the competition on floor exercises. China looked set to win its first gold medal at the competition since 2012 after taking the lead midway through the competition.
But Takaaki Sugino, Shinnosuke Oka and Tokyo Olympics all-around champion Daiki Hashimoto nailed Japan’s comeback with excellent displays on the horizontal bar, while Sue faltered.
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