Key events
Preamble
Anyone who follows Olympic sports has had this event on their calendar for months.
On paper, it’s a blowout. The American gymnasts perform routines with difficulty levels that are a level above those of the rest of the world. They have the last two Olympic all-around champions, one of whom (Simone Biles) is the clear GOAT.
But we’ve seen how things can go wrong. In Tokyo, Biles suffered from what’s called “the Twisties” and became a spokesperson for mental health awareness.
Suni Lee is also coming back from an experience that can derail elite gymnasts. She competed in college. No offense to the college sports experience, but college gymnastics is a different story and returning to international competition can be an adjustment.
The US dominated qualifying, but showed some weaknesses. Biles had a sore left calf and appeared to limp at times. Jade Carey fell out of the competition zone on the floor exercise and later revealed that she had been ill.
And let’s not forget that Brazil, Italy and China are pretty good at this too.
So we’ll either see a thrilling match, or more brilliance from one of the most transcendent athletes of our time, Simone Biles. Or both. Let’s see.
Beau will be there shortly. In the meantime, here’s how the men’s final ended:
As the final rotation of the men’s gymnastics team finals began, the Chinese team looked all but certain to emerge as Olympic gold medalists on Monday. After dominating qualifying on Saturday, they had built a commanding three-point lead over Japan with three routines remaining. Both teams closed out the competition on the high bar, where China had outclassed Japan. With plenty of room for error, all they needed to do was remain relatively solid to secure their victory.
But when you try to perform some of the world’s most difficult gymnastics skills under suffocating pressure, things can quickly fall apart. What followed was a meltdown of the ages. First, Xiao Ruoteng, the Chinese veteran, landed his dismount on his knees, stumbling forward before regaining his balance. Then came Su Weide, a 24-year-old in his first Olympics, who fell twice. First, he broke off the bar, and when he grabbed the bar again, he fell again.
As chaos reigned in the final minutes of the team final and China collapsed, a valiant Japanese team made a dramatic comeback in the final minute to win the first artistic gymnastics gold of the Olympics. With a score of 259.594, the Japanese team triumphed over China by .532 points.
While the Chinese team lamented their second place, an incredibly solid United States celebrated a magnificent bronze medal, their first medal for a men’s team since 2008. Great Britain, meanwhile, finished 1.8 points behind the US in fourth place. Despite performing well and suffering only one fall, the British team were outperformed by a more evenly matched American team.
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