Team, Men

Even after coming in second at the last two World Championships, Japan, with its star team member Kohei Uchimura, was favored to take the gold medal in the men’s gymnastics team all-around event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. They could not ignore China, however, who had finished first at the 2000 and 2008 Olympic Games, as well as the two most recent World Championships, and still had many multiple World Championship titleholders amongst its ranks. The teams from the Germany and the United States, which had won bronze medals at the 2010 and 2011 World Championships respectively, were seen as strong contenders for the final podium spot.

The qualification round took a surprising twist, with the United States coming out on top and Japan and China finishing fifth and sixth respectively. The home team impressed as well, with Great Britain finishing third behind Russia. Germany in fourth rounded out the top six while Ukraine and France nabbed the last two spots for the final. In the race for the medals, the United States lost the steam it had had in the qualifications and sank to fifth place by the end of the competition. Ukraine and Great Britain battled to gain a solid grasp on the final podium spot, with the home nation coming out on top and setting themselves up to take home their first team medal in men’s gymnastics since 1912, when Great Britain had finished third. China had already guaranteed itself the gold medal and, with Japan in second place and only Uchimura left with an apparatus (the pommel horse), that nation seemed poised for the silver. Uchimura tumbled from the pommel horse during his dismount, however, and his team suffered for it, being dragged down into fourth place and surrendering the silver medal to Great Britain. This would have been only the second time British gymnastics had won silver, and the first since Walter Tysall’s placement in the 1908 individual all-around. The Japanese team launched an inquiry into Uchimura’s score, however, claiming that he was penalized too harshly for his dismount, and won the appeal. The judges raised his total by 0.7, enough to bump the nation back into silver medal position. This sent the home team back to bronze and knocked Ukraine off the podium entirely, an unfortunately dramatic end to an otherwise rousing competition.