Japan off to shaky start in gymnastics

World champion Japan is off to a bit of a shaky start in men’s gymnastics.

While the Japanese managed to post the top score during their subdivision in team qualifying yesterday morning, they were uncharacteristically sloppy. Sixtime world champion and defending Olympic gold medallist Kohei Uchimura fell off high bar, and world floor exercise champion Kenzo Shirai stepped out of bounds during his routine.

Uchimura recovered to lead the all-around after the first of three subdivisions with a score of 90.498.

Host Brazil seemed to feed off the energy of the home crowd. The Brazilians were second behind Japan with a team score of 268.078.

The top eight teams advance to tomorrow’s team final. The top 24 all-around finishers will move on to next Wednesday’s individual final.