Shinnosuke Oka retained his gold medal on the horizontal bar in artistic gymnastics at the Olympic Games in Paris on Monday.
16:24 JST, August 6, 2024
PARIS — Shinnosuke Oka won the gold medal on the horizontal bar and the bronze on the parallel bars in men’s artistic gymnastics on Monday at the Olympic Games in Paris.
The 20-year-old Oka has now won four medals in his Olympic debut, including gold in the men’s and individual all-round events.
Oka is the first Japanese athlete to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games since gymnast Sawao Kato achieved the feat at the 1972 Games in Munich.
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‘A miracle’
By Tsukasa Oya / Yomiuri Shimbun Sports Writer
Shinnosuke Oka, one of eight gymnasts in the high bar final, was the second to perform his routine and managed to land perfectly at the end of his routine.
His final score was 14.533, the same score he had achieved in qualifying, which placed him fifth.
However, the final on the horizontal bar was full of surprises and surprises that no one had expected.
The other gymnasts, including Takaaki Sugino, made such serious mistakes that they fell off the horizontal bar, for example.
At the end of the final, Oka, who made no mistakes, and Colombian gymnast Angel Barajas were in a tie for first place.
The gold medalist was determined after their scores were split. Oka scored a 5.900 for difficulty and 8.633 for execution. Barajas scored a 6.600 for difficulty and 7.933 for execution.
The rules state that if the total scores are equal, the gymnast with the highest execution score is ranked higher. This results in Oka’s third gold medal in Paris.
“It’s a miracle,” Oka said.
The miracle was of course the result of his magnificent performance and his skills, which he had developed through hard work and daily training.
