GYMNASTICS
compliment,” said Uchimura, whose Olympic medal haul totals one gold and four silvers.
“To me, moves and performances that are mechanical are perfect. A robot can be more accurate and exact in movement than a human can every time.”
While other gymnasts have won more medals and more golds, no one has dominated the sport or maintained their levels of excellence across six apparatus for as long as Uchimura.
In a gruelling sport that seems to leave champions on the scrapheap faster than it takes Usain Bolt to run the 100 metres, Uchimura’s gymnastics lifespan defies logic.
The 27-year-old is not the only one expected to break records in Rio.
American Biles, who was 11 when Uchimura picked up his first Olympic medal in 2008, has also been an unstoppable force after becoming the first woman to win a “three-peat” of all-around golds at the worlds.
“Everyone says that I’m an alien or a robot but I think he (Uchimura) is,” the 19-year-old, who is the most successful female athlete at the worlds with a record haul of 10 gold medals, told Reuters.
“I think what Uchimura has done is very amazing and I don’t think anyone could do what he does.”
Yet she is now tipped to pull off a feat no woman has achieved for 20 years. Since the event was introduced to the Olympic programme in 1952, only three women have captured backto-back world and Olympic all around titles - Larisa Latynina (1960), Ludmilla Tourischeva (1972) and Lilia Podkopayeva (1996).
So why does the 1.45-metre dynamo think no one has done the double since 1996?
“I wasn’t born earlier, so I had no say in that!” quipped the 1997born gymnast.
Biles and her American team mates — who include Olympic all-around champion Gabby Douglas — will be the overwhelming favourites to win a second successive gold having annihilated all before them since 2011.