2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships: Hashimoto Daiki claws his way to second-straight global title
The reigning Olympic all-around champion came from 17th in the first rotation to defend his title, the first to do so since Uchimura Kohei's string of six.
Artistic Gymnastics
Never count out Japanese gymnast Hashimoto Daiki.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic all-around champion showed his grit Thursday (5 October) during the men's all-around final, fighting back from a slow start to claim his second-straight global title at the 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium.
With the win, Hashimoto becomes the first man to defend his title at the Worlds since compatriot Uchimura Kohei's run of six from 2009-2015.
"Of course, it's hard to win one and harder to win two," said Hashimoto, "but it's day-by-day, meet-by-meet, not thinking about winning back-to-back, concentrating on each competition I'm in."
Six days ago, the 22-year-old's chances of a repeat title seemed in jeopardy when he ended his preliminary competition Saturday (30 September) as the third best Japanese after an up-and-down day. Only two per country are allowed to advance to the all-around final, but the squad decided beforehand that Hashimoto would advance no matter the results.
The decision paid off.
After six rotations, Hashimoto totalled a 86.132 for gold. Ukraine's Illia Kovtun took the silver in 84.998, followed by American Fred Richard (84.332).
"I know I wasn't ranked at the top in qualification, but it's better to chase up and grab the title rather than defending it," said the Japanese.
Hashimoto's comeback for the ages
Hashimoto got off to a rocky beginning on the floor exercise. He came up short on his triple full dismount and was forced to take several steps forward. After one rotation, he sat in 17th position with a 13.466, more than a point off his qualifying score.
"It wasn't the best start for myself, the floor exercise wasn't as good as we expected," Hashimoto said afterward, "but I concentrated on myself to come back with the performance that I can do. That's why I got the gold medal."
In the second rotation, Hashimoto's 14.366 on pommel horse was a 1.100 improvement from prelims. He continued to push for the title on the still rings, earning a 14.000.
At the half way point, he was sixth in the standings but running .366 ahead of his qualifying pace.
Hashimoto performed a near flawless and stuck Kasamatsu double twist on vault in the fourth rotation for a 15.000, another big improvement.
That vault gave him the confidence he needed to pull off the title.
He stuck his double front half out parallel bars dismount, pumping his fists before he turned to acknowledge the judges. Hashimoto earned a 14.800 and headed to the final rotation with a .600 lead over Richard.
In rotation six, Richard slipped off the high bar on his second high-flying, catch-and-release element. He scored just 13.300, taking some of the pressure off Hashimoto who needed just 13.366 to pass Kovtun, the leader as he took the event.
He delivered his trademark stylish exercise on the event, where he also took gold in Tokyo. Hashimoto tallied 14.500.
Kovtun returns the podium, Richard signals bright future
For Kovtun, it's a second trip to the global all-around podium, after taking a bronze medal two years ago in Kitakyushu.
"I'm very inspired," he said afterward through translation. "Today, I did better than in qualification so I’m proud about it. I did my best. I’m happy."
He also celebrated securing a five man-team quota spot to next summer's Paris Olympic Games earlier in the championships.
"It was a very hard year because we must take here a quota to the Olympics Games, so we must work harder and do better with my team and my coach," Kovtun said. "It's a special year."
Richard's bronze medal is the first World all-around medal for an American man since Jonathan Horton took bronze in 2010.
"It feels crazy. This is my first World Championships and I was able to bring two medals home. It just goes to say how the U.S. is growing," said Richard, who was part of a bronze medal effort in the men's team final. "The universe has a way of showing your hard work."