RIO DE JANEIRO – Kohei Uchimura pulled off a stunning last-gasp victory to retain his men’s all-around Olympic gymnastics title at the Rio Games on Wednesday.
Uchimura trailed Oleg Verniaiev of Ukraine by 0.901 points heading into the final apparatus — the high bar — but the six-time world champion kept his nerve while Verniaiev stumbled to hand Uchimura the gold with a score of 92.365.
“I didn’t see any of Oleg’s performances and I wasn’t looking at the points difference, but then I heard the announcer and I started working it out in my head,” said Uchimura, who became the first man to win back-to-back all-around Olympic titles since compatriot Sawao Kato in 1972.
“I knew it would come down to the high bar. My performance was good, so if I had lost I wouldn’t have had any regrets. I thought I had lost, so this feels good.”
Verniaiev took silver at Rio Olympic Arena with a score of 92.266, while Max Whitlock of Britain picked up the bronze with 90.641. Ryohei Kato finished 11th with 88.590.
Uchimura looked to be on the ropes heading into the final rotation, having trailed for most of the competition, but the master craftsman had one last trick up his sleeve.
Uchimura’s high-bar score of 15.800 was the best mark of any competitor on the apparatus, while Verniaiev, who stumbled on his landing, could only manage a 12th-best 14.800 with the gold medal there for the taking.
“I hoped I had beaten him,” said the 22-year-old Verniaiev, who failed to make the all-around podium at last year’s world championships but finished ahead of Uchimura in qualifying for Wednesday’s final.
“It didn’t work out that way. I’m disappointed because the gold was so close. I’ve never trained so hard before and this is the result.”
Uchimura’s victory gave him his second gold medal of the Rio Games after helping Japan win the team title two days previously. Uchimura has now won three all-around Olympic medals after claiming gold in London four years ago and silver in Beijing in 2008.
“It’s really difficult to defend your Olympic title,” said the 27-year-old Nagasaki Prefecture native. “In London I knew that if I made a mistake I would still be able to win the gold. I had that mental belief. But there’s no way that was the case today. I wouldn’t be able to beat Oleg on such a big stage if I made any mistakes.”
Uchimura looked to be in control when he took the lead after the second rotation, but a series of strong performances by Verniaiev and Whitlock dropped him to third place at the halfway point of the competition.
A score of 15.600 on the parallel bars — only seventh-best on the apparatus — put Uchimura further into a pinch heading into the last rotation, but the final twist turned the tables to give Japan its sixth gold medal of the games.
“It was interesting for the fans to watch,” said Uchimura. “It really showed how difficult and interesting gymnastics can be. I think that was bigger than who won and who lost.”
Kato started strongly before dropping out of medal contention, leaving the 22-year-old unable to add to the team gold he earned with Uchimura, Yusuke Tanaka, Kenzo Shirai and Koji Yamamuro on Monday.
“Of course it’s frustrating, but even before the high bar I could see that the other gymnasts were performing at a higher level than me,” said Kato. “I knew that even if I had been able to raise my level, I still wouldn’t be able to make the podium.”
Whitlock took bronze ahead of Russia’s David Belyavskiy and Lin Chaopan of China, giving Britain its first all-around men’s gymnastics medal in 108 years.
“Uchimura is my idol and he has been for a long time,” said the 23-year-old Whitlock. “He’s an unbelievable gymnast. He’s the best gymnast of all time and he’s just proved that.”
Uchimura plans to compete at the Tokyo Olympics in four years’ time but has yet to decide which disciplines he will enter.
“I’ve been on top in gymnastics for a long time and I have helped raise the level,” said Uchimura. “But that just shows everyone that it can be done. Gymnasts who can do even more than me will come along.
“The progress of gymnastics hasn’t finished. I think I have contributed to the development of the sport.”
"After winning the group gold, it was tough to re-focus," he told reporters. "I'm so exhausted right now."
Uchimura is the first man to achieve back-to-back victories in the Olympic all-around since fellow countryman Sawao Kato did so in 1968 and 1972.
The holder of 10 world championship gold medals and 19 in all, Uchimura underlined his undoubted talent once again in the Rio Olympic Arena.
He also joins Kato in being the only male gymnasts to have ever won three all-around Olympic medals, having won silver in Beijing eight years ago. Kato came second in 1976.
Verniaiev, who had led for part of the competition, had to settle for second with Whitlock taking Britain's first medal in the all-around final for 108 years.
GYMNASTICS / 2nd straight all-around title for Uchimura
The Japan News より引用
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Kohei Uchimura celebrates winning gold in the men’s individual all-around final at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday.
The Yomiuri ShimbunRIO DE JANEIRO — Kohei Uchimura won his second consecutive gold medal in the men’s all-around on Wednesday at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, continuing his reign over the gymnastic world.
The 27-year-old scored 92.365 points to extend his combined winning streak at the Olympics and the world championships to eight.
It was Uchimura’s second gold medal at Rio, following the team title Japan won on Monday.
He is the first gymnast to repeat as Olympic champion in the men’s all-around in 44 years, since Sawao Kato won at the Mexico Games in 1968 and the Munich Games in 1972. Uchimura is also only the fourth gymnast ever to win back-to-back golds in the event.
Ukraine’s Oleg Verniaiev took the silver medal just 0.099 point behind Uchimura, while Max Whitlock of Britain earned the bronze. Ryohei Kato finished in 11th place.
Uchimura started well in the first rotation, finishing his floor exercise with a high score. He performed solidly on the pommel horse, and dismounted perfectly off the rings.
He also nailed the difficult Li Xiaopeng vault, and landed with a small hop after his parallel bar routine.
Entering the final rotation of the horizontal bar in second place, Uchimura performed each move with great skill and stuck the landing to finish. It was enough to overcome Verniaiev and take the gold.
Uchimura is from Isahaya, Nagasaki Prefecture. He made his Olympic debut at 19 at the 2008 Beijing Games, where he won two silver medals: one in the all-around and the other in the team event.
In 2012, Uchimura bagged the all-around title at the London Games. He added two silvers to his medal haul, one in the team event and the other in the floor exercise.
He also nailed the difficult Li Xiaopeng vault.
→彼はまた、むずかしいり・シャオペンの跳馬を完璧に決めた。
*nail=爪、（～に）釘を打ちつける。～を完璧にやる
*vault=ぶｫｰるﾄｩ=アーチ構造、～を飛ぶ、跳馬
*the pole fault=棒高跳び
内村航平、五輪体操個人総合２連覇…４４年ぶり
リオデジャネイロ五輪は第６日の１０日（日本時間１１日）、体操の男子個人総合決勝が行われ、ロンドン大会金メダリストの内村航平（２７）（コナミスポーツ）が計９２・３６５点で、２連覇を達成した。
男子個人総合連覇は、１９６８年メキシコ、７２年ミュンヘン大会を制した加藤沢男以来、４４年ぶり４人目。内村は世界選手権も含めると世界大会８連覇。今大会は団体総合との２冠も達成した。
２位は内村から０・０９９点差でオレグ・ベルニャエフ（ウクライナ）。３位はマックス・ホイットロック（英）。加藤凌平（コナミスポーツ）は１１位だった。
内村は、最初のゆかで高得点をマークして好スタートを切った。あん馬でも安定した演技で続き、つり輪では着地をピタリと止めた。跳馬では大技リ・シャオペンを成功。平行棒は着地がやや乱れたが、２位で迎えた最終種目の鉄棒ではすべての技を決め、着地も止めて見事に逆転優勝を決めた。
RIO DE JANEIRO--When Kohei Uchimura stuck his landing without a wobble in sight from his high-flying, high-risk horizontal bar routine, it not only earned him a second successive Olympic all around gold, it also made him the greatest of all time.
That is according to Nadia Comaneci.
Four years ago, Comaneci felt it was premature to call Uchimura the 'G.O.A.T' even though the Japanese gymnast capped winning an unprecedented hat-trick of world titles with Olympic gold at the 2012 London Games.
But when Uchimura extended that run by capturing the next three world titles before becoming the first gymnast since compatriot Sawao Kato in 1972 to win back-to-back all around Olympic golds, Comaneci said the debate was over.
"Uchimura is the greatest of all time," Comaneci told Reuters in an interview.
"Look what he's achieved for such a long time. Undefeated for eight years (at world championships and Olympic Games). That's his legacy."
In a high-quality contest devoid of falls and spills by the top contenders, Ukraine's Oleg Verniaiev led the standings from the third rotation and held a 0.901 of a point lead over the Japanese great ahead of their final apparatus.
It took a heart-stopping routine to finally lift "Supermura" above the chasing pack--by a razor-thin 0.099 of a point.
It was a margin that also decided if Uchimura--the owner of a record six successive world all around titles--was the G.O.A.T.
"It was the best ever gymnastics competition in Olympic history. There were five or six guys who could have won the gold," said Comaneci, who remains the sport's most celebrated champion 40 years after achieving the first perfect 10 at the Olympics.
"Hence Uchimura had to take risks in that high bar routine ... and to deliver that in the last apparatus under so much pressure was really, really amazing.
"He stuck the landing and if he had even the slightest wobble, he would have lost the gold and we would still have been debating if he was the greatest."
Until Wednesday there were several other gymnasts who could claim to be the G.O.A.T.
Kato came within one point of pulling off a treble of Olympic all around titles in 1976. Over three Games, he scooped 12 medals, including eight golds.
The Soviet Union's Nikolai Andrianov was the man who blocked Kato's bid for a third all-around crown and went on to be the most decorated men's gymnast of all time, collecting 15 Olympic medals with seven of them gold.
There was also Barcelona Games all-around champion Vitaly Scherbo, who won an astonishing six golds in 1992.
In contrast Uchimura has only three golds among his seven Olympic medals from three Games.
However, what Uchimura lacks in numbers, he more than makes up for with his style and elegance. He is the Roger Federer of the gymnastics world because every time he takes to an apparatus, he mesmerizes the audience with his sheer talent and powerful grace.
"His gymnastics is amazing. Sometimes I look at his execution and there is absolutely no flaws, not a single one," gushed Comaneci.
RIO DE JANEIRO (Kyodo) -- Kenzo Shirai successfully performed a new trick in the men's vault final at the Rio Olympics on Monday en route to taking home Japan's first medal on the apparatus in 32 years.
Shirai scored 15.449 after two clean vaults for bronze, finishing behind two-time reigning champion Ri Se Gwang of North Korea, who clinched gold with 15.691, and Russia's Denis Abliazin in second with 15.516.
In the vault final, gymnasts perform two routines each and their final score is the average of the two.
Shirai, third up in the eight-man event at the Rio Olympic Arena, pulled off a three-and-a-half twisting layout Yurchenko vault to earn the day's highest single-vault score of 15.833. For his second routine, he got 15.066 with the best execution score of the day of 9.466.
"From the time I arrived here, I had been intending to do it in the (vault) final," he said of the new technique. "I thought I would have no regrets even if I were to fall, so I performed my routine today just being thankful that I can compete in the Olympic final."
The 19-year-old sat on top of the ranking after his routine but had to wait for five other finalists to perform.
"I didn't have difficulty scores that could match the others, so I just did what I can be satisfied with and had a good time," he said.
He was eventually overtaken by Ri and Abliazin, both of whom pulled off techniques that had higher difficulty scores combined than his, but Shirai managed to claim his first medal in the vault at a major international competition.
The last time Japan made the podium on vault at an Olympics was at the 1984 Los Angeles Games when Shinji Morisue and Koji Gushiken tied for silver with two other gymnasts.
"My strong determination (to do the new trick) paid off," said the teen, who has a gold medal from the men's team competition in Rio but just missed a medal in Sunday's floor exercise final with a fourth-place finish.
"I guess all the hard work in training can come back to you with this kind of reward," he said.
If the International Federation of Gymnastics recognizes the new technique, it is likely to be named "Shirai 2." Shirai would then have a total of five tricks with his name on them -- two for vault and three for floor exercise.
Two-time men's all-around Olympic champion Kohei Uchimura praised his young teammate.
"He was barely landing the new trick even in practice, and it was the first time I saw him do it that well," said the 27-year-old Uchimura, who cheered from the stands along with the three other members of the Japanese men's squad.
"We were also excited," he said. "I'm glad Kenzo was able to end his run in these Olympics on a positive note."
The outcome also pleased coach Yoshiaki Hatakeda, who said, "I was
surprised because he had never come down within the landing area during
practice. All I can say is that it was amazing."
