Olympics gymnastics highlights: Shinnosuke Oka wins gold, US men finish outside top 10
Editor’s note: Simone Biles has won Olympic gold in the team final, all-around final and vault final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
PARIS — Forty-eight hours after helping lead Team USA to a historic bronze medal in the team competition, Paul Juda and Frederick Richard placed 14th and 15th, respectively, in the individual all-around final Wednesday night — their last event at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Richard, 20, got off to a shaky start with a fall on pommel horse in his first rotation and was unable to match some of the monster scores he put up in the team final, where the U.S. won its first Olympic medal since 2008. Juda was solid across the board but simply didn't have the difficulty in his routines to be in the mix for a medal.
The overhead angle of Frederick Richard’s flares is AMAZING. 🔥 #ParisOlympics
📺: NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/HLSVh4rGHy— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 31, 2024
The race for gold ultimately came down to the final rotation, with several gymnasts from China, Japan and Great Britain all jockeying for the podium.
Ultimately, it was Shinnosuke Oka of Japan who emerged with gold, giving Japan its fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal in this event. Boheng Zhang and Ruoteng Xiao of China earned silver and bronze, respectively.
Japan's Daiki Hashimoto, the reigning world all-around champion, placed sixth.
Shinnosuke Oka continues Japan's streak, winning the Olympic AA title. That's four in a row for Japanese men, Kohei Uchimura in 2012 and 2016 and Daiki Hashimoto in 2020.
Zhang Boheng in second, Xiao Ruoteng gets bronze again.
Paul Juda finishes 14th, Frederick Richard in 15th— Nancy Armour (@nrarmour) July 31, 2024
Richard, who competes collegiately at the University of Michigan, needed to be pretty close to perfect or benefit from mistakes Wednesday to make a run at the podium, simply because the competitors from China and Japan had more difficulty in their routines. He sneaked onto the podium at the end of the all-around competition at the 2023 world championships, becoming the first American man to medal at worlds since Jonathan Horton in 2010. But he was unable to replicate that feat in Paris.
A solid showing on parallel bars for Paul Juda in the individual all-around final. 🙌 #ParisOlympics
📺: NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/i23AsEqE8c— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 31, 2024
Juda had said over the weekend that he was thrilled just to have made it to the all-around final. At various points over the past year, it was unclear whether he would even make the Olympic team. But he ended up being a key contributor.
The U.S. has not medaled in the men's all-around since the 2012 London Games, when Danell Leyva took home bronze. And it has not won an apparatus medal on the men's side since 2016, when Leyva won a pair of silvers.
Stephen Nedoroscik is the only men's gymnast left to compete in Paris for Team USA; He'll be in the eight-man pommel horse final Saturday.
Simone Biles and Suni Lee will compete for the U.S. in the women's all-around final Thursday night.
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Olympic gymnastics results: Japan's Shinnosuke Oka wins gold
Japan's Shinnosuke Oka won gold in the men's all-around final, scoring an 86.832 and finishing 0.233 ahead of China's Zhang Boheng in second and 0.468 ahead of China's Xiao Ruoteng in third. It is the fourth straight gold for the Japanese in the all-around final.
Two Olympic titles in three days at his first Games 🥲
Oka Shinnosuke is a #Paris2024 sensation #Gymnastics pic.twitter.com/NWALyagkzb— FIG (@gymnastics) July 31, 2024
Olympics gymnastics schedule
Here is the remaining Olympic gymnastics schedule.
Thursday, Aug. 1: The women’s all-around final is at 12:15 p.m. ET. Simone Biles and Suni Lee are competing in the all-around final for the Americans.
Saturday, Aug. 3: Day 1 opens with the men’s floor exercise final, beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET. Then, it’s the women’s vault final at 10:20 a.m. ET and the pommel horse final at 11:10 a.m. ET.
Sunday, Aug. 4: Day 2 begins with the still rings final at 9 a.m. ET before uneven bars at 9:40 a.m. ET and the men’s vault final at 10:25 a.m. ET.
Monday, Aug. 5: Day 3 is a big one, with four event finals, two for the women and two for the men. Competition begins (11:45 a.m. Paris time), with It starts with the parallel bars at 5:45 a.m. ET, followed by balance beam at 6:36 a.m. ET, high bar final is at 7:31 a.m. ET and finally women’s floor final 8:20 a.m. ET.
When does Simone Biles compete next?
Here is when Simone Biles competes at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Biles opened competition in Paris with team qualifying on Sunday, July 28.
The women's team final was on Tuesday, July 30. Biles and the U.S. women's gymnastics team won gold.
The women's all-around final is at 12:15 p.m. ET Thursday, Aug. 1.
The women's vault final is at 10:20 a.m. ET Saturday, Aug. 3.
The women's balance beam final (6:36 a.m. ET) and floor exercise final (8:20 a.m.) are Monday, Aug. 5.
What individual finals Simone Biles, US teammates qualified for
Here are the individual final events the U.S. women's gymnastics team will compete in.
Simone Biles: all-around, vault, floor exercise, balance beam.
Suni Lee: all-around, uneven bars, balance beam.
Jordan Chiles: floor exercise.
Jade Carey: vault.
Frederick Richard, Paul Juda scores in all-around final
Frederick Richard and Paul Juda have wrapped up the all-around final. Richard, whose last turn was on floor (13.200), totaled 82.166 while Juda, who finished on pommel horse (13.866), finished with 82.197 points.
Olympic gymnastics results: Final rotation
Xiao Ruoteng 🇨🇳 gets a chance to redo the routine he missed on Horizontal Bar during the team final, and today it's great. He had 🥈 at #Tokyo2020...what about Paris? Xiao takes a bow, hand on heart. #Olympics #ArtisticGymnastics
— FIG (@gymnastics) July 31, 2024
Illia Kovtun 🇺🇦 wastes no time showing why he's so excellent on Floor: Front layout full to front double pike. Front triple twist. 3.5 twist. Front 2.5 twist. Long flairs sequence. Triple twist dismount. Everything is awesome. 14.7, making his 86.165 the score to beat.
— FIG (@gymnastics) July 31, 2024
If Joe Fraser's 🇬🇧 routine on Horizontal Bar is any indication of what's to come in this rotation, we're all in for an incredible ride! Fabulous routine (and reaction) from Fraser after sticking his double double layout dismount. #ArtisticGymnastics #Paris2024
— FIG (@gymnastics) July 31, 2024
Frederick Richard, Paul Juda on fifth rotation
Frederick Richard has moved up to 12th after a strong high bar routine, though his score of 14.400 wasn't quite as high as his score in the team final Monday night. He'll wrap up the night on floor. Paul Juda, who is in 16th, will conclude on pommel horse.
pic.twitter.com/8ZUU12gs2i https://t.co/XobeKQOFRn
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) July 31, 2024
Olympic gymnastics results: Fifth rotation
The men's all-around final looks like it's going to come down to the wire. With just one rotation to go, there are now six men at the top separated by 1.1 points or less, each of them with a shot at earning an Olympic medal. Shinnosuke Oka of Japan is back in first, followed by Ruoteng Xiao and Boheng Zhang of China. Here are the top three in the standings after five rotations.
First: Japan's Shinnosuke Oka, 72.332
Second: China's Xiao Ruoteng, 71.998
Third: China's Zhang Boheng, 71.966
The hits are coming fast and thick now: Illia Kovtun 🇺🇦 makes it through a difficult set on Horizontal Bar, showing a huge Kolman and connected Tkatchev skills for 13.833. Joe Fraser 🇬🇧 sticks his Parallel Bars dismount for 14.933, which will keep him in contention. #Paris2024
— FIG (@gymnastics) July 31, 2024
Oleg Verniaiev 🇺🇦 barely gets his right hand around the bar after his Yamawaki on Horizontal Bar and doesn't swing a giant out of it and does his best to cover. This is not his strongest apparatusm but he fought valiantly. The crowd shows him love and he responds in kind! 12.7.
— FIG (@gymnastics) July 31, 2024
Illia has "HOME," the O a map of Ukraine, tattooed on his forearm. He's trained elsewhere in Europe since war began.
Oleg has delivered supplies to Ukrainian military, and raised awareness (and funds) for war-torn country.
If you can't root for these two, I got nothing for you https://t.co/SthlrbofSu— Nancy Armour (@nrarmour) July 31, 2024
Zhang Boheng 🇨🇳 is on now Parallel Bars swinging a routine smooth as silk. Complex giant elements bolster his difficulty massively. A stuck double front half out tuck won't hurt either. Comeback actuated — 15.3 is HUGE! #ArtisticGymnastics #Paris2024 #Olympics
— FIG (@gymnastics) July 31, 2024
Paul Juda, Frederick Richard on fourth rotation
In the fourth rotation, Paul Juda scored a 13.766 on high bar. Frederick Richard scored a 14.133 parallel bars this rotation. The metaphorical ship has probably sailed for the Americans' hopes of earning a medal. Juda and Richard are sitting tied for 18th and 20th, respectively, with just two rotations remaining.
Olympic gymnastics results: Fourth rotation
For all the hype entering Wednesday about China and Japan, it is actually the two Ukrainians — Oleg Verniaiev and Illia Kovtun — who are sitting in first and second, respectively, through four rotations.
Finishing with one, if not two, gymnasts on the podium would of course be incredibly meaningful for Ukraine, which brought a delegation of around 140 athletes to the Paris Olympics amid its war with Russian. Ukraine has so far just won a single bronze medal, in fencing. Here are the top three in the standings after four rotations.
First: Ukraine's Oleg Verniaiev, 57.766
Second: Ukraine's Illia Kovtun, 57.632
Third: Ziao Ruoteng, 57.232
Standings after Rotation 4 of the Men's All-Around final at #Paris2024: Oleg Verniaiev 🇺🇦 is now in the lead over Illia Kovtun 🇺🇦 after lights-out routines on Parallel Bars. Still, only 1.1 separates first from sixth place! It's all to play for. #ArtisticGymnastics #Olympics pic.twitter.com/pGQd20VynK
— FIG (@gymnastics) July 31, 2024
Illia Kovtun's 🇺🇦 intricate pirouetting skills are absolute magic on Parallel Bars. The European champion delivers a brilliant routine at the perfect time for an enormous 15.4. Into second place he goes at this point, behind teammate Oleg Verniaiev 🇺🇦. #ArtisticGymnastics
— FIG (@gymnastics) July 31, 2024
Watching Oleg Verniaiev 🇺🇦 on Parallel Bars, the years roll back and for a moment we're back at #Rio2016, where Verniaiev took 🥇 on this apparatus. This is a very similar routine, and beautifully presented. 15.000 is a great score. #ArtisticGymnastics #Paris2024 #Olympics
— FIG (@gymnastics) July 31, 2024
Oka Shinnosuke 🇯🇵 with an incredible stuck Kasamatsu 1.5 on Vault! (And a heartwarming celebration from teammate Hashimoto Daiki 🇯🇵 as though he'd been the one to do it.) Zhang Boheng 🇨🇳 on Vault: Kasamatsu double twist, nearly stuck too. That will help too. #ArtisticGymnastics
— FIG (@gymnastics) July 31, 2024
Frederick Richard, Paul Juda after three rotations
After falling on pommel horse, Frederick Richard has actually performed better than he did in qualifying on both still rings and vault. But he still has a long way to go if he's going to get back in the picture for a medal. Richard is sitting 22nd in the 24-man field, about 2.5 points behind leader Shinnosuke Oka of Japan. He's also slightly behind U.S. teammate Paul Juda, who is sitting in 17th after recording a 13.866 on parallel bars.
Olympic gymnastics results: Third rotation
Two gymnasts from Ukraine and two from China occupy the second through fifth spots, while reigning world champion Daiki Hashimoto of Japan is in 18th at the halfway point.
Here are the top three at the halfway point.
First: Japan's Shinnosuke Oka, 42.932
Second: Ukraine's Oleg Verniaiev, 42.766
Third: China's Xiao Ruoteng
Standings halfway through the Men's All-Around final at #Paris2024: It's a tight fight right now between Oka Shinnosuke 🇯🇵 and Oleg Verniaiev 🇺🇦, but several others, including Zhang Boheng 🇨🇳, are in striking distance. It could not get more exciting than this! #ArtisticGymnastics pic.twitter.com/Z5Zbz1m2VP
— FIG (@gymnastics) July 31, 2024
Zhang Boheng's 🇨🇳 strength parts on Still Rings are impeccable, but he takes a large step back on his double-twisting double tuck dismount, which is likely to cost him about 0.5. #ArtisticGymnastics #Olympics
— FIG (@gymnastics) July 31, 2024
Felix Dolci 🇨🇦 gets to repeat his exercise on Horizontal Bar. (It's a rule in place if routines are interrupted for reasons beyond a gymnast's control, like a handguard breaking.) He comes off on a Kolman but gets the biggest applause of the night after his dismount.
— FIG (@gymnastics) July 31, 2024
Illia Kovtun 🇺🇦 takes a step forward on his Kasamatsu 1.5 twist vault, but he is well-positioned here. He's now in third place, and his three strongest apparatus are still ahead of him. #Paris2024 #ArtisticGymnastics #Olympics
— FIG (@gymnastics) July 31, 2024
Brody Malone, Asher Hong, Stephen Nedoroscik supporting teammates at all-around final
Brody Malone, three-time U.S. champion, missed out on tonight's event after a rough performance in qualifying. But he's on the floor helping out Frederick Richard and Paul Juda. Before Richard went on pommel horse, Malone brought the chalk bag onto the podium and helped adjust the height of the horse. Between rotations, he helped lug everyone's bags to the next event. Meanwhile, Asher Hong and Stephen Nedoroscik are watching from the stands.
While it might seem unusual, other gymnasts will often help their teammates during all-around and event finals. The Netherlands' Loran De Munck, for example, was helping his teammate, Frank Rijken.
Asher Hong and Stephen Nedoroscik are in attendance to support teammates Frederick Richard and Paul Juda in the men's all-around final. 🇺🇸🤝 #ParisOlympics
📺: NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/ITwQY7edXZ— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) July 31, 2024
Frederick Richard on still rings, Paul Juda on vault
As for the Americans, Frederick Richard followed up his fall on pommel horse with a solid routine on rings, while Paul Juda lost some points on his vault for taking a sideways hop out of the landing zone. They'll both by sitting in the back of the pack by the end of the second rotation.
Olympic gymnastics results: Second rotation
Two of the favorites to win gold tonight, Boheng Zhang of China and Daishi Hakimoto of Japan, have both already had shocking mistakes in the early stages of the competition.
Zhang, who topped the leaderboard in qualifying, came up short on a tumbling pass on floor and leaned forward onto his head in his first rotation. Then, minuteslater, Hakimoto fell off the pommel horse after stalling on a handstand. Their mistakes left the door open for 20-year-old Shinnosuke Oka of Japan to move into the lead, at least for now.
Standings after the second rotation:
First: Japan's Shinnosuke Oka, 29.006
Second: Great Britain's Jake Jarman, 28.966
Third: Felix Dolci, 28.699
Oka Shinnosuke 🇯🇵 methodically flairs his way though an excellent Pommel Horse routine. His re-emergence is interesting: after winning the jr. World title when he was 15, he essentially disappeared, and has resurfaced now as the second strongest qualifier... #Paris2024 #Olympics
— FIG (@gymnastics) July 31, 2024
With a chance to capitalize after Zhang Boheng's 🇨🇳 fall on Floor, Hashimoto Daiki 🇯🇵 comes off on a scissor to handstand on Pommel Horse and puts his hands to his head in consternation. The competition has just gotten much more open for their challengers. #Paris2024 #Olympics
— FIG (@gymnastics) July 31, 2024
Frederick Richard falls off pommel horse
Of the two Americans in the field tonight, reigning world bronze medalist Frederick Richard entered with the best chance of winning an all-around medal. But his start on pommel horse won't help. Richard, 20, appeared off balance as soon as he mounted the apparatus and then fell off it altogether when his hand slipped during a flare. While there's still a lot of gymnastics to go, his score of 12.733 left him sitting 23rd out of 24 gymnasts after the first rotation.
Paul Juda on still rings
Paul Juda, meanwhile, got off to a much more solid start on still rings: A 13.433 that was almost exactly on par with his performance in qualifying.
Paul Juda finishes strong on rings to open his day in the men’s individual all-around final. 💪 #ParisOlympics
📺 NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/UW0lVwqf6B— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 31, 2024
Olympic gymnastics results: First rotation
Here are the men's all-around final standings after the first rotation.
First: Great Britain's Jake Jarman: 14.900 (floor)
Second: Ukraine's Oleg Verniaiev: 14.833 (pommel horse)
Tied for third: Japan's Daiki Hashimoto 14.633 (floor), Ukraine's Illia Kovtun 14.633 (pommel horse)
Rising star Oka Shinnosuke 🇯🇵 calmly walks through his complex Floor routine. 2016 Olympic AA 🥈 medallist Oleg Verniaiev 🇺🇦 is simply superb all the way through a very difficult Pommel Horse set. Great starts for both! #ArtisticGymnastics #Paris2024
— FIG (@gymnastics) July 31, 2024
Reigning Olympic champion Hashimoto Daiki 🇯🇵 shows a lot of variety on Floor Exercise and sticks a couple of his passes, an improvement from earlier rounds. Carlos Yulo 🇵🇭 is great on Pommel until he falls dramatically to his back on his dismount. He gets up + repeats the skill.
— FIG (@gymnastics) July 31, 2024
The upgrades are paying off for Joe Fraser 🇬🇧 on Floor Exercise! He controls his difficult triple-twisting double tuck opener well and just stays in bounds on his double double tuck. No major errors on his other passes. #Paris2024 #ArtisticGymnastics #Olympics
— FIG (@gymnastics) July 31, 2024
Who is last US man to win an Olympic all-around medal?
That would be Danell Leyva, who won a bronze at the 2012 Olympics in London. He was just the third American man to win an all-around medal at the Olympics, following Peter Vidmar's silver in 1984 and Paul Hamm's gold in 2004.
The U.S. men haven't had much more success in the all-around at the world championships. Frederick Richard's bronze last year was the first since 2010, when Jonathan Horton also won a bronze. The only other two all-around medals by U.S. men at the world championships were by Paul Hamm, who won gold in 2003, and Kurt Thomas, the silver medalist in 1979.
How does Olympic gymnastics scoring work?
A gymnastics routine gets two scores: One for difficulty, also known as the D score or start value, and one for execution. Every gymnastics skill has a numerical value, and the D score is the sum total of the skills in a routine. The execution score, or E score, reflects how well the skills were done. A gymnast starts with a 10.0, and deductions for flaws and form errors are taken from there. Add the D and E scores together, and that’s your total for an apparatus. (Vault scores will always be higher because it’s a single skill.)
US men winning Olympic team bronze shows strategy changes are working
For years, the U.S. men’s gymnastics teams would insist they were within striking distance of the podium, that they were thisclose to winning a medal. But if the Americans ever wanted a medal, they were going to have to do more than talk.
“We had to trust the process,” said Sam Mikulak, a three-time Olympian who now coaches Brody Malone and Stephen Nedoroscik. “The first couple of years were rough.”
It worked, though. The bronze medal hanging around the U.S. men's necks Monday night is proof. The medal is the Americans’ first at an Olympics since 2008, when they also won a bronze. It comes a year after they snapped a nine year drought at the world championships, also with a bronze.
“I just hope it shows promise, shows capability and shows that when you put trust in one another and you put the hard work in that things do happen,” said Paul Juda, a member of both drought-busting teams.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Olympics gymnastics highlights: Men's all-round final scores, results