Japan secured its second men’s team gold at the Artistic World Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands, as Tokyo Olympic All-Around champion Daiki Hashimoto delivered a brilliant 14.866 routine on the horizontal bar to seal the victory with a total of 251.928 points, The Sports Examiner reported.
Russian Neutral Delegation Secures Silver Medal
- The Russian neutral delegation secures a valuable silver-medal footing at 250.329, asserting competitive depth on the floor exercise through Arsenii Dukhno.
Rotterdam Showdown on the Podium
The men’s team competition came down to the final four nations battling on the podium. Great Britain led after three of six rotations, ahead of China and Japan. The standings held through the fourth station before a strong Japanese performance on the parallel bars in the fifth stanza shifted the leaderboard, putting Japan ahead of China 209.629 to 209.494.
The dramatic final rotation placed Japan and Great Britain on the horizontal bar while China and the Russian neutral athletes competed on the floor. China’s Tian Hao posted a 13.700 on the floor to lift his team to a 249.193 total. Britain’s Jake Jarman answered with a 13.233 on the horizontal bar, bringing the British total to 247.395.
Dukhno and Hashimoto Deliver in the Finale
Russian competitor Arsenii Dukhno then stepped up on the floor exercise, recording a superb 14.500—the highest mark of the day on the apparatus—to vault his team into first place with a 250.329 total. That left only Hashimoto on the high bar.
#NSTsports Japan won the men's team title at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Rotterdam on Tuesday, with Daiki Hashimoto producing a standout display as he helped his country finish ahead of Russia and China. https://t.co/b7ATYlWxMJ pic.twitter.com/mXdh4ecr2c
Hashimoto, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion and 2023 World Champion on the apparatus, rose to the occasion. He scored 14.866 to secure the gold for Japan. The Russian neutrals took second, China finished third, and Britain placed fourth. This marks Japan’s 12th straight Worlds men’s team medal and their eighth all-time team gold, following titles in 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 2015, 2023, and 2026.
United States Finishes Sixth After Rings Struggle
The United States, which claimed bronze in 2023 and at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, finished sixth with 245.161 points. The American campaign effectively fell out of contention during the opening rotation, managing only a 39.565 on the rings for fifth place, followed by a 38.899 on the horizontal bar in the fourth rotation for seventh place. The U.S. total finished 4.32 points shy of the podium.
Individual apparatus leaders securing qualification for the finals include Arsenii Dukhno (RUS) on floor with 14.500, Patrick Hoopes (USA) on pommel horse with 14.833, Xingyu Lan (CHN) on rings with 14.733, Jake Jarman (GBR) on vault with 14.866, Jingyuan Zou (CHN) on parallel bars with 15.366, and Angel Barajas (COL) on horizontal bar with 14.900.
Competition continues with the women’s team final, where the U.S. seeks an eighth straight gold after trailing China 164.996 to 164.529 in the qualifying round.
