Led by the last two men to claim Olympic all-around titles, Team Japan captured the men’s gymnastics title Wednesday (23 July) at the FISU World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany.
The Japanese posted a team total of 252.027, well clear of the Canadians, who scored 239.593. Switzerland (239.162) captured the bronze medal.
Hashimoto Daiki, the all-around gold medallist at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, led his squad with a 85.197 total in the all-around, while reigning Olympic all-around champion Oka Shinnosuke had to absorb a 12.000 on the pommel horse after falling. His 82.432 total in the all-around is the third-best overall, but as the third-best Japanese, behind Hashimoto and Kawakami Shohei, Shinnosuke failed to advance to the all-around final due to the two-per-country limit.
The men’s all-around final is scheduled for Friday (25 July).
Team Japan’s dominant performance saw them post event totals that ranked either first or second on four events: rings, vault, parallel bars and high bar. Their lowest team finish was the pommel horse, where Oka’s error was compounded by a 12.866 from Kawakami, and Hasegawa Tsuyoshi’s 11.666 left them in sixth overall.
Artistic gymnastics competition at the World University Games continues on Thursday (24 July) with the women’s team competition.