Russia wins first men’s team gold since ’96
The Russian team huddled together, tears already in their eyes, as they waited for the final score.
Even after 25 years, the extra few seconds were excruciating.
Russia won its first Olympic title since 1996 on Monday night, reigning world champion Nikita Nagornyy’s improvisation on floor exercise giving his team enough to hold off Japan. The Russians finished with 262.500 points, 0.103 ahead of host Japan.
China won the bronze medal. The U.S. men were in line for their best finish at an Olympics since winning bronze in 2008 until a mistake by Sam Mikulak on floor exercise, and landed in fifth for a third consecutive Games.
Russia won its first team title since the Atlanta Games at the world championships in 2019, and that set off raucous celebrations among the team. But nothing compares with an Olympic gold medal, especially for a program that dominated the sport for decades until the breakup of the Soviet Union.
When Nagornyy’s score posted, he dropped to the floor and curled up in a ball, sobbing. Artur Dalaloyan, who has made an unbelievable comeback just three months after blowing out his Achilles, blew out his breath and smiled before accepting the congratulations of a coach.
Russia, which had finished third in qualifying, took the lead in the second of six rotations with a powerful series of vaults, and never looked back. China made a late charge and looked as if it might pull ahead on parallel bars, its best event.
But Zou Jingyuan had several form breaks in his routine and had to take a couple of steps to steady himself on his dismount. Minor errors, but enough to keep China from gold.
That also provided an opening for Japan, which finished on high bar, one of its best events. National champion Daiki Hashimoto, considered the heir apparent to Kohei Uchimura, closed out his team’s night with a high bar routine worthy of The King.
His teammates yelled and jumped up and down as Hashimoto twisted and flipped in the air. When he landed, they all screamed, knowing they had won silver — or maybe better.
Hashimoto’s score hadn’t posted when Nagornyy, the last competitor of the night, began his floor routine. He wound up adding a triple-twisting somersault to his routine, which added two tenths to his total score, ensuring the Russians would be Olympic champions.
McCallum replaces Chiles in women’s lineup
This is the Olympics of the unexpected, and that includes the U.S. women’s gymnastics lineup for Tuesday night’s team final.
Grace McCallum will compete on uneven bars and balance beam rather than Jordan Chiles, despite Chiles scoring higher on both events all year. The surprise move follows Chiles’ struggles in qualifying, as the Americans finished second for the first time since the 2010 world championships. McCallum and Simone Biles will compete on all four events while Chiles will do vault and floor exercise and Suni Lee will do uneven bars and balance beam. Teams must count all three scores on each event, meaning the choice of McCallum over Chiles is not insignificant.
Chiles had been the most dependable of the U.S. women this year, not counting a single fall in her first four meets. That’s 32 events, for those keeping track. She outscored McCallum on both bars and beam at the U.S. Classic in May, Day 1 of the U.S. championship and both days of Olympic trials.
But Chiles had a rough day in qualifying, falling twice on beam and dragging her feet across the mat during uneven bars. The Americans dropped her score on each of those events.
The lineup decision will put additional scrutiny on national team coordinator Tom Forster, who initially said the selection committee would use scoring potential to choose the Tokyo team. But he went in rank order instead, selecting McCallum over Skinner despite Skinner giving the U.S. a higher-scoring team.
Asked to explain his reasoning, Forster said the gold medal wasn’t going to be decided by tenths of a point.
“Our athletes are so strong that I don’t think it’s going to come down to tenths of a point,” he said last month. “We didn’t feel like it was worth changing the integrity of the process simply for a couple of tenths.”