RIO DE JANEIRO _ It was essentially over after one rotation.
The U.S. men's gymnastics team stumbled out of the gate on the floor exercise and was last in the eight-country field after the opening rotation at Monday night's team final at Rio Olympic Arena.
That was far too much ground to make up as the United States finished fifth, the same showing as four years ago in London. Japan won gold and was joined on the podium by Russia and China. The silver medalist Russians were sixth in 2012.
Monday, the U.S. inched back and made a late run at the podium and climbed back to fifth after the fifth rotation. But its last gymnast on the high bar, Danell Leyva, fell on his release late in what had been a sensational routine and a spot on the podium was gone.
In the lead-up to the Olympics, the U.S. men spoke about avoiding the same mistakes that sealed the team's fate four years ago. In 2012, they were first after qualifying and placed fifth.
The strong start, once again, eluded them in Rio. Alex Naddour fell on his last tumbling pass on the floor exercise. Next up was Sam Mikulak, who went out of bounds twice on his floor routine.
