Summary
You have to doff your cap to the Japanese. They started very slowly, and it was only in their third rotation on the vaults – where all three Japanese scored 15+ – that they began to make their move towards the top three. Russia had some excellent individual performances, but dropped off noticeably towards the end, and were delighted to just pip China to third. Having been in third for a long time, Great Britain blew it, and the game was up way before Louis Smith made a mess of his pommel horse routine. Awful afternoon for USA, too.
This is only the beginning on the finals, though, and they’ll be plenty more medals up for grabs in the gymnasium in the coming days. Women’s team final tomorrow!
Thanks for reading, and for your emails and tweets. See you next time – bye!
Updated
Final standings
0.331 dividing second and third. Japan worthy winners: Kohei Uchimura has got his gold!
JAPAN WIN GOLD, RUSSIA TAKE SILVER, CHINA HAVE TO SETTLE FOR BRONZE!
Great Britain two points off a bronze, in the end. China’s team look absolutely devastated. They may have won a medal, but this isn’t the colour that they wanted. Many of them have their head in hands.
Updated
Japan are home and dry, they won’t be caught now for gold! But can Russia hold off China for silver? They send out David Belyavskiy out onto the floor and a couple of loose steps mean that he is only awarded 14.666. China’s Lin Chaopan, meanwhile, records 15.566 on the horizontal bar. It’s going to come down to the wire!
Louis Smith, who has been waiting all this time to perform his one routine, ascends onto the pommel horse. He knows he’s got to pull something special out the bag … no … he loses grip on the middle of the horse, and falls off! Dejection, utter dejection is written all over Louis’s face. He gets back on the horse, literally, and completes his routine. 14.766 is still a good score, all things considered, but it’s not going to be enough. Fourth place it is.
Updated
Britain’s Bevan Brinn, who suffered a double leg break while vaulting in November of LAST YEAR …
… is first out on the pommel horse. It’s a solid performance, scoring 14.866, but not the one that is going to make up two points. China’s Lin Chaopan is first out on the horizontal bar: a flat 15.
Great Britain are a two full points behind China in third, and they’ve got to take care of business on the pommel bar – traditionally their strongest event – and hope that there are a few huge mistakes from the Asian nation on the horizontal bar.
Disaster for USA’s Leyva! After nailing the harder parts of his horizontal bar routine, a lapse in concentration sees him fall from the bar, just before the dismount. Head bowed, he stays crouched on the matt. It’s unclear whether he is injured or just crestfallen at his mistake but eventually a coach helps him to his feet and he successfully completes his routine. Just 14.333, is that the end of USA’s resurgence. They were closing on Great Britain in fourth.
Reigning floor champion Kenzo Shirai puts in a reigning champion performance on the floor, finishing with a quad twist! OMG … 16.133! The Japanese gymnasts are generally of a slightly lighter build than the rest of the field, and that really helps them here, very graceful. Ryohei Kato follows with a 15.466 and Kohei Uchimura finishes Japan’s involvement in this team final with a 15.600. Can Russia beat that, they need an average of 15.8 in their own floor routines to beat Japan and take the gold!
Japan take the lead, following their showing on the horizontal bars! Russia slip to second, and China jump from fifth to third. Great Britain tumble outside the medals with one event to go!
Max Whitlock is the pick of Britain’s bunch on the floor – his 15.400 very clean, with several landings requiring no correction. Kristian Thomas (15.033) and Nile Wilson (14.666) aren’t quite so clean. I wonder if Great Britain will be able to hold off the emerging challenge from China.
If you were wondering, USA are still marching around the perimeter of the apparatus roaring “Let’s go” and “C’mon” incessantly. There’s a lot of backslapping, despite the fact that they are still sixth in the standings. It’s all a bit Globo-Gym.
Danell Leyva is the only you’d probably go for a drink with. And he puts in a beautiful parallel bars routine. Really languid style. Nice. 15.533.
Japan are chalking up the horizontal bar. But it’s not just chalk, there are no rules that dictate what gymnasts can and can’t use, so teams get creative. Most create a gross concoction of honey, spit and chalk slurry or by mixing honey and chalk with a spritz of saltwater. Former US gymnast Trent Wells used gummy bears and beer has also been used.
Whatever Japan’s Ryohei Kato is using on the horizontal bars, it’s working. 15.066. Japan in second remember.
Updated
We have our first 16+ score! The parrallel bars are traditionally China’s strongest event, and all three of their gymnasts score at least 15.800, with You Hao clocking a mesmeric 16.166, which included a double backflip between the bars. They were fifth going into this fifth rotation, about 0.7 points behind Great Britain in third. It’s going to be close!
Ukraine are down and out at the bottom of the rankings, and only playing for pride, but Oleg Verniaiev doing himself proud on the pommel horse, recording a flawless 15.633, including the wonderfully named move, a Russian Wendy.
Japan have begun to close the gap on Russia at the top, but Ivan Stretovich continues to hold his nerve on the horizontal bar. He was just a reserve before the Olympics but is proving to be one of the strongest performers here.
Updated
The scores after four events. Two to go!
Great Britain have a mixed time on the horizontal bar: Max Whitlock has a rather disappointing 14.500 – remember he fell in qualification – Kristian Thomas clocks a solid 14.833 but Nile Wilson is the pick of the bunch …
WOW! Unbelievable routine for @NileMW on high bar! A huge 15.666 for GB! #Gymnastics #Rio2016
— British Gymnastics (@BritGymnastics) August 8, 2016
It’s all getting too much for some …
Nile Wilson genuinely had me in tears, that was so beautiful 😍 #Rio2016
— Lauren Curr (@laurbethany) August 8, 2016
China’s Lin Chaopan tries and triple-twist dismount on the vault, but he under-rotates and stumbles. These are routines that the Chinese were doing in their sleep in qualification but it seems as though the pressure is getting to them.
In contrast, Russia are two points clear at the top of the standings. It’s a crucial lead, not least because in the remaining three events they can afford to bring the difficulty down, and make sure that they nail the execution. Ivan Stretovich, a 19-year-old making his Olympic debut, shows no signs of nerves on the parallel bars: 15.100. Nikolai Kuksenkov follows with a 15.133 and European Games silver medallist David Belyavskiy is the best of the lot with 15.800! 15.800! It’s almost as though they are thriving on the cold reception that the crowd are giving them.
Brazil and Great Britain go onto the horizontal bar. Sergio Sasaki, the Brazilian, completes his routine for 14.566, but the home crowd feel hugely aggrieved, and vent their ire at the judges from on high – boos raining down from the stands.
Updated
USA next up in the vaults, and my word, they are pumped up like Temur Ketsbaia. Jake Dalton and Alexander Naddour are particularly excited: both continuing their clench fists and shouting ‘C’mon’ well past the point than is probably appropriate. But then, this is the culmination of four years hard work and an Olympic final. Scores of 14.833 and 14.966, respectively.
Half-way through, and here are the scores!
USA still struggling in seventh, which would be a terrible result for them.
Updated
Germany are not going anywhere! They are in second at the moment and have Fabian Hambüchen going in the horizontal bar – he won silver four years ago in London. This is probably the best individual performance we’ve seen all day, and he gets a 15.666. Germany continue to be 2016’s surprise package!
Updated
But here come Japan in the vault. Uchimura peers down the 25m track, dissecting it with one eye closed as though he’s at an archery range, and sets off at pace, nailing a 15.566 score, pumping the air. But his team-mate Kenzo Shirai goes even better! His triple twist is landed absolutely perfectly, with no step, and a wide smile to match. 15.633!
Updated
No! Next on the rings for China, You Hao, completely messes up his dismount, taking a full three steps forward and nearly falling flat on his face. He only receives a 14.800 score. It’s not terminal, but China will not shoot up the rankings with that!
Maksym Semiankiv failed to even start his high bar routine, and Ukraine have nobody else to put forward for this event, so they will automatically lose 13-15 points! That’s effectively put them dead last. Maybe there’s been an injury to Semiankiv, but that’s hugely disappointing.
Updated
But here Liu Yang comes to China’s rescue, absolutely nailing a flawless rings. A quite amazing 15.833 score. Is this the comeback?
Scores: China in sixth and USA in seventh. Wow. And just look at Germany in second. They were expected to just make up the numbers.
1 Russian Federation 106.131
2 Germany 89.931
3GreatBritain 89.465
4Brazil 89.364
5 Japan 88.532
6 China 88.057
7 United States 87.456
8 Ukraine 74.381
Great Britain’s baby-faced assassin, Brinn Bevan and the team captain, Kristian Thomas go in the vault, both taking on high difficulties and both taking just a single step back. Thomas backflips onto the table, double pike. 9.4 execution and 15.4 score.
Updated
The Russian Denis Ablyazin, all 5ft2in of him, is in complete control of the rings, sticking a perfect landing, and recording the best score so far: 15.700, better even than Brazil’s Arthur Zanetti, who won gold in London 2012 in this discipline.
The pommel horse is China’s weakest event, and so it proves: You Hao is hesitant on one handle and makes a sketchy dismount, not the best from him, 14.400.
Triple twist for Max Whitlock on the vault. He looks as though he doesn’t quite complete his last rotation, and lands outside the line, but because of his difficulty he still brings in 14.966.
Updated
Germany’s Marcel Nguyen starts chalking up his parallel bars and gets to work. It’s a high difficulty but a couple of missed handstands mean that he clocks in at 15.466, when normally Nguyen would expect to get 15.7ish.
We’re into our second rotation. But it’s still not going to plan for the USA gymnasts. Danell Leyva slips on his dismount from the pommel horse, manages to style it out and land cleanly on his feet, but shuffles off stage a little bit embarrassed, hoping the judges they didn’t notice. They did: 14.333. I think the USA will be staying bottom place for now.
@michaelbutler18 Love Louis, hate his mun! Can't wait to see him & Max burn that pommel horse down.
— Charlotte Houldcroft (@DrCJ_Houldcroft) August 8, 2016
Remember Louis Smith is only competing on one event, the pommel horse. But that brings an awful lot of pressure for 30 seconds of work.
Max Whitlock finishes with a clean double twisting, double back. Nicely done. He’s not the strongest athlete, but is very light and nimble in the air. 14.5 score.
Ooooooooooo that’s a couple of big mistakes from Sam Mikulak. He’s widely regarded as the best all-around American, and had the best individual floor score going into this final, but starts his floor routine with two massive mistakes, twice landing outside of the borders. He finished with a nice triple twist, and bounds off towards his team with a smile on his face, but he’ll be devastated with those errors. 14.866 is his score. Could have been a lot worse.
Updated
Scores on the doors. But remember, some countries have completed more events than others, so don’t get too carried away with these.
1 Russia 45.299
2 Great Britain 44.066
3 Ukraine 44.015
4 China 43.799
5 Germany 29.449
6 Japan 15.100
7 Brazil 14.400
8 United States13.566
Uchimura looks pumped and gets a noisy cheer from the crowd as he starts on the pommel horse. It’s quite amazing how stationary his head stays as his legs helicopter around. 6.2 difficulty, 8.9 execution. That’s a score of 15.1 – he would’ve been hoping for more there.
Updated
Nile Wilson, the 20-year-old from Leeds, takes to the rings, which is traditionally Great Britain’s worst event. But he looks steady and calm and happy enough with his clean dismount. Not the same fist-pump as in qualifying, but that’ll do pig, that’ll do.
Updated
Liu Yang gets things started for China on the floor, clocking in with a 14.833. That’s a good start, finishing with two somersaults, two twists.
Ukraine’s Ihor Radivilov, absolutely sticks his vault, landing perfectly in the centre, earning a 9.333 out of 10 for execution. That a 15.333 score. Wow. He was bronze medallist in London 2012 in this event, remember.
Updated
Brazil got a deafening reception. I wonder if Great Britain will benefit from doing their rotation with the hosts. A few smattering of boos for the Russian team. After a quick warm-up, we’re off!
The gymnasts are out! USA come out each bearing ice-white smiles. Britain’s team is more a mixed bag. Max Whitlock and Kristian Thomas look down to the ground, a picture of concentration, whilst Louis Smith looks straight down the barrel of the camera and raises his eyebrows. The big flirt.
Thoughts on his top knot? Predictions? Email michael.butler@theguardian.com or tweet me @michaelbutler18.
Japan’s Kohei Uchimura has had a mixed Olympics so far. The record six-time world champion unsuspectedly racked up a £3,700 Pokemon Go bill walking around the Olympic park, then slipped on the pommel horse and fell off the horizontal bar in qualifying. He is however, probably the greatest living all-round male gymnast. Very excited to see him, he says he holds this team event as close to his heart as the individual events. Quite right, too.
Not anything to do with tonight’s goings on, but this is great from last night:
.@Aly_Raisman's parents watching her uneven bars routine is my favorite Olympic sport. pic.twitter.com/XxEpzakzTF
— Sarah Schneider (@sarahschni) August 8, 2016
Aly Raisman was part of the US women’s team that qualified for the team final in first and alongside Simone Biles, she will also compete in the floor final and the all-around final. Here’s Bryan Armen Graham’s take on last night:
The teams will be starting in about 15 minutes or so, and will pair up as they rotate around the six disciplines. First up …
Floor: USA and China
Pommel Horse: Russia and Japan
Rings: Great Britain and Brazil
Vault: Ukraine and Germany
Scores are given by nine judges, who assess three different aspects:
- the level of difficulty
- the technical quality of the movements performed
- the perfect execution of the exercises in each event.
Preamble
The chances are, in reading this, you are either a gymnastics nut – the kind of person who can’t walk down the street without balancing expertly on the edge of a kerb before bunnyhopping the nearest bin – or one of a slightly more fair-weather variety, only bothering to poke your nose into all things acrobatic once every four years. The beautiful thing about gymnastics is that it doesn’t matter: marvelling at athletes simply overcoming the dangers of flipping and twisting several metres off the ground, pushing the limit of human strength, balance, flexibility and grace is more enough.
But if you are from one of China, USA, Russia, Japan, Great Britain, Brazil, Ukraine or Germany, you’ve got a little extra to get excited about. From the Ryder Cup in golf to the Davis Cup in tennis, team competitions seem to light a fire in fans like nothing else. Today’s men’s team final is made up of the eight countries, each with five gymnasts in their ranks, who will take it in turns to each perform one of six different disciplines: vault, floor, pommel horse, rings, parallel bars and horizontal bars.
Each individual score will then be added to the team’s total. Every routine counts: less than 2.5 points divided the top six qualifiers for this final, so every athlete is just one disaster from potentially costing their county a medal.
The field is tight this year. China, winners in 2012, are widely tipped as the favourites. In Kohei Uchimura, Japan have arguably the best all-round athlete and won team gold the world championships in Glasgow last year. The USA team finished top of the medal table overall in Glasgow, but have a team comprised of specialists. Team GB may have been chuffed with bronze at London 2012, but have gone from strength to strength since, and will hope to improve: they won silver in Glasgow. And could Brazil, in front of a home crowd, be capable of delivering an upset?
Start: 4pm in Rio, 8pm in London.
Updated
