Share

Gymnast Oleg Verniaiev wins second silver for Ukraine

We stepped out of London 2012 and I wanted to prove myself as an all-rounder and I’ve done that.

Advertisement

Verniaiev’s score is 92.266 points.

It was Uchimura’s second gold medal at Rio, following the team title Japan won on Monday.

Verniaiev, the European champion in the all around event and the 2014 world champion on the parallel bars, said he was flattered by the comment. I didn’t know any of the scores of any of the other gymnasts at any point. “This calmness I think was the key to my success”.

The gymnast known as “King Kohei” becomes the first man to successfully defend his title since countryman Sawao Kato in 1972.

“I felt really close to admitting that it might be really hard”, Uchimura said.

Since winning his first all-around world title in 2009, Uchimura has swept all the all-around gold medals both in the world championships and Olympic Games.

It will be the second day of action for the men as Rugby Sevens debuts at the Olympics and a crunch pool match between New Zealand and Great Britain looms, particularly after the Kiwis were stunned by Japan in their opening match Tuesday.

That Team GB have won more medals today makes it even better. He’s been producing huge scores in the last few years and I’m very honoured to come third to those two.

“It’s unbelievable to stay at that level for so may years”.

The all-around is the pinnacle of men s gymnastics, a battle across six disciplines between 24 of the most athletically impressive competitors in the Games.

In a dramatic finish, Whitlock, 23, was one of the first to go in the last of six rotations and had to sit and wait anxiously after his floor routine to see if his rivals would deny him a medal.

Competing in the same group as Uchimura, the Ukrainian, who had led Saturday’s qualifiers, pulled ahead on rings and had a 0.467 advantage on Uchimura at the half-way point.

A massive 16.1 by Verniaiev on parallel bars threw down the challenge to Uchimura, who replied with a 15.600, following another small hop on his landing.

And showing nerves of steel Uchimura drew gasps from the crowd at every soaring acrobatic twist of his daredevil routine.

He stuck a ideal landing to score 15.8 with Verniaiev delivering a less spectacular show on the apparatus losing out with 14.800. The first obstacle of six to tackle was the pommel horse, the apparatus on which he became Britain’s first ever world champion previous year and won a bronze medal at London 2012.

He set the fastest individual time in helping the U.S. to its 4x100m relay gold Sunday as teammate Michael Phelps took his record 19th gold.

It was. It just wasn’t impossible. “I did everything I could”. Delivering a fearless high bar with a gold medal on the line, the Japanese superstar put all the pressure on Ukraine’s Oleg Verniaiev.

Advertisement

In Rio his focus had been on recapturing the team title once dominated by his country after China won gold at Japan s expense in 2008 and 2012. But he began his final floor performance a touch frenetically, and something bothered him in his penultimate pass – before he made his final tumble, he visibly shook his head as if to clear it. He fell on his vault.

GYMNASTICS / Japan wins gymnastics gold