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Reuters

Having missed the men’s gymnastics team title by a hair at Tokyo 2020, Japan are determined to beat their biggest rivals China to take gold in Paris, setting that as their top priority with one month left to go until the Games begin.
Three years ago, the Russians beat Japan by 0.103 points – a sliver of a number that etched itself into the minds of the three Japanese gymnasts and their head coach who will be returning to the Olympics looking to erase those painful memories.
“We had the bitter experience of losing by the narrowest of margins, of 0.103,” all-around title holder Daiki Hashimoto said after a team training session in Tokyo last week.
“I want us to win that gold and enjoy the view from the podium.”
Revenge may not taste as sweet, though, as Japan and China will battle it out without Russia, with the country banned from taking part in team events over the war in Ukraine.
The three powerhouses 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 took the title.
“After losing to Russia by 0.103 in Tokyo, we’ve been working hard towards Paris fuelled by a sense of revenge, so there’s a part of me that’s a bit sad that they won’t be there,” said head coach Hisashi Mizutori, a former team gold medallist.
“Still, it’s a big chance for us to grab that medal so we’ll do what we need to do.”
From Rio to Paris
A victory by Japan would extend the record it holds to eight team golds, and its athletes said they had every confidence of doing so, thanks to a well-balanced team and their superior collective “D-score”, or difficulty score, over China.


Based on simulations of the teams’ routines on the six apparatuses, Japan’s D-score tally was likely to top China’s, Mizutori said, meaning the key over the remaining weeks would be to polish the routines and minimise any mistakes.
“That was quite a surprise, since China had long had a higher D-score than Japan,” said Kazuma Kaya, who won bronze in the pommel horse in Tokyo.
“In that sense, we have the strongest five members this time.”
Led by Hashimoto, Japan took the World Championships title in October with a total score of 255.594 points – almost two points ahead of China – though the runners-up were without their ace all-rounder, Zhang Boheng.
With 24-year-old Zhang added to the Olympic roster this time, China will be a formidable force, Mizutori said, allowing Japan little room for error.
Zhang is set to give Hashimoto a run for his money with the latter still nursing a finger injury that he said had him at 60 per cent at last week’s training.
“I don’t think the pain will disappear completely but I want to get as close to 100 per cent as possible” before Paris, he said, adding that he aimed to defend his all-around and horizontal-bar titles, for a total haul of three gold medals.
Mizutori said he saw the make-up of the Paris squad as being similar to the one that took the crown in Rio in 2016. That five-man team comprised four members that conceded the gold in London 2012 and a young addition in Kenzo Shirai.

“We have experienced members and new members this time so it’s relatively similar, and the balance is really good,” Mizutori said.
“And just as the team in Rio had (seven-times Olympic medallist Kohei) Uchimura, we have Hashimoto so I think we can expect a similar result.”
Hashimoto and Kaya will be joined by Wataru Tanigawa, Takaaki Sugino and 20-year-old Shinnosuke Oka on the team.
Artistic gymnastics will run from July 27 to August 5, with the men’s team final on July 29.


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Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Paris Olympics 2024: Japan gymnastics men’s top goal is beating rivals China for team gold

Led by Daiki Hashimoto, Japan defeated China to win the World Championships title last October and will hope to beat their rivals again in Paris. Photo: Reuters

China will be a formidable force with the return of Zhang Boheng, says Japan coach Hisashi Mizutori. Photo: Xinhua

Paris Olympics: China volleyball fans lament facing US again – ‘what kind of fate is this?’

China’s women’s volleyball team qualified for the Paris Olympics and will look to improve on their showing in Tokyo three years ago. Photo: Xinhua

Fans of China’s women’s volleyball showed a mixed reaction on Weibo to drawing the US again. Photo: Xinhua

Paris Olympics 2024: defending gymnastics champ Daiki Hashimoto confident of full recovery

Japan’s Daiki Hashimoto, who won the gold medal in the all-round final at the world championships last year, will try to defend the Olympic title he won on home soil three years ago. Photo: AP

Hashimoto became the youngest men’s all-around champion in Olympic history when he won gold at the age of 19 in Tokyo. Photo: Reuters

Paris Olympics: From ‘female applause as a reward’ to gender parity – the 128-year journey

Paris 2024 will be the first Olympic Games to feature as many women as men competing in the events. Photo: Reuters

Michele Davis, left, and Jane Millspaugh Serues competed in first marathon to include women at Olympics in 1984. Photo: TNS

Poland’s Irena Szewinska, centre, dominated women’s athletics in 1976, where women’s events made up only a quarter of Olympic programme: AP

Sport

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Paris Olympics 2024

Asia

Gymnastics

China

But absence of banned champions Russia will take away some of the satisfaction, as the three nations have dominated the event since 1952


However, the absence of Russia, who are banned from team events, will take away some of the satisfaction from the win, as the three nations have dominated the event since 1952.


China-Japan relations

Zhang Boheng (張博恆)