By Sean Miyaguchi,
Japanese gymnast Shinnosuke Oka claimed his third gold medal of the Paris Games on Monday, winning the men's horizontal bar just hours after taking bronze in parallel bars.
The 20-year-old continued a stellar Olympic debut in which he also won team gold with Japan and the men's all-around crown, establishing himself as one of the biggest stars in the sport.
The horizontal bar competition was wide open after the defending champion, Japan's Daiki Hashimoto, fell in qualifying and failed to advance to the final.
The second finalist to perform, Oka received 14.533 for his routine at Bercy Arena, replicating the score that saw him qualify in fifth place.
Colombia's Angel Barajas, competing directly after Oka, also earned 14.533 but had a lower execution score than the Japanese gymnast and slotted behind him in the standings.
As one finalist after another made mistakes, Oka's clean performance saw him remain in gold medal position ahead of Barajas, with China's Zhang Boheng and Taiwan's Tang Chia-hung tying for bronze.
"You really can't know in advance what might happen until the end and rounding off my performance without a mistake resulted in winning the gold," Oka said.
The Japanese became the first male gymnast from any nation to win the all-around, team and an apparatus gold at an Olympics since 1992.
Fellow Japanese men's team gold medalist Takaaki Sugino, who qualified third for the final, fell during his routine and placed seventh.
The 17-year-old Barajas, Colombia's first Summer Games medalist in artistic gymnastics, said he wanted to be the "best role model" for children in his country who are dreaming of the Olympics.
"I had this very same dream ever since I was 10 years old, and I always worked very hard and fought, because I wanted to excel and reach my dream," he said.
Oka, having suffered a bad knee injury in 2022, said he had dialed in his preparation in order to return to competition and succeed on the biggest stage.
"After getting injured, I prepared as well as I could and that led to where I am," he said. "I want to get stronger and hope to become a gymnast who can always keep winning."
China's "King of Parallel Bars" Zou Jingyuan earlier lived up to his nickname, scoring a whopping 16.200 to win back-to-back gold in the event ahead of Ukrainian silver medalist Illia Kovtun with 15.500. Oka received 15.300 for bronze.
Zou, the top qualifier for parallel bars, took silver in men's rings a day earlier, adding to the team silver he won with China.
"I wanted to perfect my landing. I didn't manage it yesterday but today I did," Zou said. "The joy I felt wasn't just about winning the gold medal, it was my satisfaction with my gymnastics."
Japan's Wataru Tanigawa placed sixth in the eight-man parallel bars final.
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