Olympics-Gymnastics-Russia survive Asian fightback to take team gold (updated)
26/07/2021 14:56
(Adds results)
By Steve Keating
TOKYO, July 26 (Reuters) - Russia ended Asia's domination of
the Olympic gymnastics men's team event on Monday when they
survived a ferocious fightback from China and Japan at the Tokyo
Games to claim the gold medal for the first time in 25 years.
Russia, competing in Tokyo as representatives of the Russian
Olympic Committee (ROC) because the country has been stripped of
its flag and anthem for doping offences, posted a winning total
of 262.500 points to go top of the podium for the first time
since the 1996 Atlanta Games.
What was expected to be a tight, tense battle between
defending champions Japan, Russia and China was exactly that as
the three powerhouses swapped places over the six rotations.
The ROC managed to snatch victory only after Nikita
Nagornyy, the last athlete to compete, delivered a
pressure-packed floor routine to secure gold for his team by
0.103 of a point over the host nation.
“There was news this morning that there was a typhoon moving
towards Tokyo," Nagornyy told reporters. "Well, the typhoon made
it here and took gold and is sitting in front of you now."
China had entered the final rotation topping the standings
by 0.604 of a point but finished with the bronze medal for the
second consecutive Games.
Britain were fourth and the United States fifth.
Familiar foes once again battled it out for the medals as
Japan, Russia and China have claimed every men's team gold since
the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, with the exception of the
Soviet-boycotted 1984 Los Angeles Games when the United States
claimed the top prize.
"We have been working for this medal for a long time. This
has taken 25 years," said Russia's Denis Abliazin. "I think we
will realise that we are Olympic champions only tomorrow."
JAPAN TURN UP PRESSURE
But it is doubtful that many previous battles have produced
the nail-biting drama that filled the Ariake Gymnastics Centre
empty of spectators due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Through three of the six rotations, the ROC appeared to be
heading for a romp after constructing a 2.6-point advantage over
Japan, a poor effort by Daiki Hashimoto on the rings doing much
of the damage for the host nation after he earned only 13.833.
Over the next hour the gap closed and by the time the teams
stepped up to their final apparatus, everything was to play for.
Japan, third coming into their last event, turned up the
pressure when Hashimoto atoned for his weak effort on the rings
with a dazzling, high-flying display on the horizontal bar that
drew him a mark of 15.100.
The score vaulted the hosts over China and into the lead as
Nagornyy, the reigning world all-around champion, waited on the
edge of the stage for his turn to compete on the floor exercise.
"We came in for gold and ended up with silver, which we have
to accept," said Japan's Kazuma Kaya. "But we missed by only 0.1
point which seems wide….We could have got gold, but depending on
fate we could also have got bronze."
An emotionless Nagornyy powered his way through his routine
then joined team mates Abliazin, Artur Dalaloyan and David
Belyavskiy to nervously stare up at the scoreboard as China and
Japan did the same.
When the score finally flashed on to the board, the emotions
the Russian quartet had tried to contain exploded in tears and
joy.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Tokyo. Additional reporting
Elaine Lies, Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber. Editing by Pritha Sarkar
and Clare Fallon)
((steve.keating@thomsonreuters.com; +1 647-624-4094; Reuters
Messaging: steve.keating.reuters.com@reuters.net))