The Paris 2024 Olympics are over (sigh), and now we get to revel on the new batch of Olympic champions and medalists who’ve risen to the highest in opposition to an unbelievably aggressive lineup.
Whereas the group and all-around finals had been riveting, maybe essentially the most memorable second of the lads’s competitors was the excessive bar closing.
Going into the Video games, the 2 clear favorites had been defending Olympic excessive bar gold medalist Daiki Hashimoto and his pleasant rival Zhang Boheng – two unimaginable excessive bar employees who’ve confirmed they’ll hit routines below huge stress.
These preconceptions had been shattered when Hashimoto had an uncharacteristic fall on the occasion throughout qualifying, preserving him from the ultimate and eliminating any hope of a medal on his signature occasion. One other podium favourite, 2022 world champion Brody Malone (USA), shared an analogous story of heartbreak in qualification that additionally knocked him from the finals.
Regardless of these surprising mishaps, the stage was set for a historic showdown.
Zhang certified in first with an enormous 15.133, with Tang Chia-Hung of Chinese language Taipei two-tenths behind him and the daring Takaaki Sugino (JPN) one other two-tenths again.
These rankings solely gave a tentative preview of what was to return, with scores resetting. The one routine that mattered was the one a gymnast did within the closing.
Tang, the 2018 Asian Video games excessive bar champion, was the primary to go within the closing. Competing a starkly unique routine, he shocked the gang with an early fall on his Cassina, setting the tone for what was to return. This wouldn’t outline his routine, as Tang regrouped and completed fantastically, performing an ideal Tak full to Walstrom connection and sticking the touchdown chilly for a 13.966 even with the autumn. This rating put him out of the working for gold, however, as destiny would have it, not the rostrum.
After this rocky begin, it was time for the newly coronated all-around champion Shinnosuke Oka to take the stage. Recent off of gold with the group, gold within the all-around, and bronze on parallel bars, Oka was seeking to lengthen his dominance and turn out to be the primary male gymnast since 2000 to take dwelling 4 or extra medals in a single Olympic Video games. Whereas his issue was on the decrease aspect of the stacked lineup, Oka’s near-flawless 8.633 execution – the very best E-score of the ultimate by seven-tenths – earned him a 14.533. This tied his actual rating from qualifying, which put him in fifth going into the ultimate – an fascinating truth to remember going ahead.
Following Oka was a competitor that got here considerably out of left subject: 17-year-old Angel Barajas of Colombia. Able to the very best issue rating on excessive bar of the whole Olympic subject, his aim was fairly simple: keep on the bar. What adopted was an action-packed routine that includes a Tak half to format Piatti connection, a Kovacs to Kolman connection, and a Cassina besides. His kind didn’t match that of Oka’s, however Barajas’ absurdly excessive issue gave him sufficient of a buffer to nonetheless emerge with a 14.533, tying Oka’s rating and placing him in second after the execution tie break.
Subsequent, it was Marios Georgiou of Cyprus, the 2022 European excessive bar champion and frequent medalist. A cleanly hit routine might simply propel him to the rostrum. This was trying just like the case till his dismount, when an early faucet shot him ahead. Georgiou landed low and fell, receiving a rating of 13.333 and placing him firmly outdoors of medal competition.
After this, Sugino had the prospect to step in and seize the lead. Qualifying to the ultimate in third, his dynamic 6.6 routine rivaled Barajas’ and gave him sufficient room for small errors. Opening with a Pegan, a entrance tuck with a half twist over the bar, Sugino caught the bar however slipped off with one hand earlier than catching himself within the handstand. Despite the fact that he pulled the large round, this hiccup threw off his timing and he fell laborious on his subsequent talent, changing into the second gymnast of the night time to overlook a Cassina after Tang. Touching the bottom along with his hand on the dismount cemented his disappointment, leading to one other tragically low rating of 11.633.
Lastly, it was time for the now-clear favourite, Zhang, to take the stage. The all-around silver medalist certified to the ultimate in first with an unlimited 15.133, miles forward of the 14.533 main rating shared by Oka and Barajas. All he needed to do was put down one other stable routine, one thing he had already finished as soon as in group finals when he put up a 14.733 and led China to the silver. The routine began out effectively, and every part was clear till the dismount. Eerily much like Georgiou minutes earlier than, Boheng went barely lengthy and took two enormous steps ahead earlier than touching his palms on the bottom. For a gymnast with such sturdy consistency, this fall was uncharacteristic in each sense of the phrase. As if the ultimate couldn’t already get any extra unbelievable, his rating was a 13.966. As a result of this tied Tang in issue and execution precisely, there was no tie break they usually shared third place with two extra rivals to go.
Up subsequent was Tin Srbic of Croatia, a excessive bar specialist boasting an Olympic silver medal from Tokyo and three world medals, together with the 2017 world title. Competing one other distinctive routine, he repeated Barajas’ Tak half to format Piatti connection earlier than unexpectedly tapping too late on the following Piatti and falling. After one other fall on his Tak full, he completed with an 11.333.
Finally, there was yet one more competitor: Su Weide of China. After his two catastrophic falls throughout group closing on excessive bar that saved China from gold, Su had the prospect to redeem himself. His routine began flawlessly, with textbook Taks into an ideal Tkatchev sequence. He was on observe for a medal till, similar to so many different rivals that night time, catastrophe struck. Similar to Georgiou and Zhang, Su’s dismount was low, forcing him to the touch his palms to the bottom and rely a fall. Despite the fact that his execution was simply 0.033 decrease than the 2 tied for third, Su’s decrease issue introduced his closing rating all the way down to a 13.433.
With competitors over, the strangest podium in current gymnastics historical past was cemented, that includes simply two scores shared by 4 medalists. On the high, after all, was Oka, who did, actually, win his fourth medal of the Video games with the gold. He additionally grew to become the primary man to win gold within the all-around, group, and on an equipment in 32 years. With the silver was Barajas, Colombia’s first Olympic medalist in gymnastics. Sharing the bronze had been Zhang and Tang, successful medals regardless of their falls.
The Paris excessive bar closing simply stands as some of the memorable of the Video games, if not all-time. For 40 minutes, uncertainty and unlikely eventualities blossomed, resulting in such unimaginable tales as Colombia’s first ever Olympic medal in gymnastics by the youngest male gymnast competing.
Even after six of the eight of the athletes fell, the aggressive spirit lives on. With the up to date Code of Factors for the 2025-2028 quad on the brink of mildew the following 4 years of routines, solely time will inform what world-class excessive bar units will appear like going ahead.
