Japan's Hashimoto clinches men's gymnastics all-around gold at Tokyo, Xiao wins China silver

Hashimoto Daiki of Japan competes in the pommel horse competition of the artistic gymnastics men's all-around final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, July 28, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Lili)

TOKYO, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Daiki Hashimoto triumphed in the men's gymnastics individual all-around final at the Tokyo Olympics to win the host nation a gold medal on Wednesday.

The 19-year-old Japanese edged China's Xiao Ruoteng by 0.4 points to claim the title with 88.465 points. Russian Olympic Committee (ROC)'s Nikita Nagornyy settled for the bronze with 88.031 points. Xiao's teammate Sun Wei was ranked the 4th place with 87.798 points.

"The gold medal means a lot to me. Five years ago, after (watching) the Rio 2016 Olympics, I didn't think I would be able to get this medal. All the hard work over the past five years have led to this medal," said Hashimoto after the final.

Hashimoto, the top qualifier of the event, led the first rotation with a high-quality performance of 14.833 points in floor exercise, surpassing Xiao by a margin of 0.133 points. He continued to extend advantage in the pommel horse, but his poor performance in rings and a major error of stepping out of the cushion in vault cost him dearly to slip to the fourth place after rotation four.

However, Hashimoto, as the last to compete for horizontal bar, his strongest apparatus, was given an unparalleled 14.933 to win the gold.

Xiao topped the competition after three rotations, delivering outstanding performances in floor exercise, vault and rings on an average of 14.644 points. He continued to lead the rankings after parallel bars, but with a gap of 0.867 point to Hashimoto in horizontal bar, Xiao eventually settled for a silver medal.

"I feel that I did well today, and I am pretty satisfied with my performance. This medal is really big for me. It's a result of what I have worked for up until now," said Xiao.

"There are a lot of adverse factors, like my old injuries, but today's game is still important to show my best side," he said.

The ROC's Nagornyy trailed at 0.034 behind Xiao to take a bronze. "(I'm) sad. I feel like I disappointed my team. I could have done better. I did my best, but on floor and high bar I didn't do exactly what I wanted," he said.