Photo: Steve Cooper/GymCastic

The competition is underway for the 2024 All-Japan Gymnastics Championships and two-time Olympic Champion, Hashimoto Daiki leads the field in the all-around competition by over two points. Often critical of his performances, the champion said in a quote to the Olympic Channel, “I thought I was a little uptight on the parallel bars, a bit nervous," but later stated that he thought he did a good job overall.

Hashimoto has already secured his Olympic spot on the Japanese team by winning the all-around competition at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. However, for the rest of the field, this competition is a critical step towards making the Olympic team.

The depth of the Japanese team is shown by how many athletes are capable of score over the coveted 80 mark; today, 45 Japanese gymnasts scored over 80. Compared to the most recent U.S. national championships where 14 athletes scored over 80 or the most recent British national championshsip where only three athletes managed that feat, it's easy to see why the Japanese are so strong in international competition.

With such depth, some familiar faces have already been eliminated from making the 2024 Olympic team. According to Magnastics, 2023 World Champions, Sugimoto Kaito and Chiba Kenta, and 2022 World Silver Medalists, Tanigawa Kakeru and Kamoto Yuya will no longer be considered due to a combination of less than ideal performances and injuries.

However, based on a strong showing today, 2019 junior world all-around champion, Oka Shinnosuke may make his Olympic debut in Paris later this year. The 21-year old currently sits in second ahead of veterans like Kaya Kazuma (3rd) and Tanigawa Wataru (18th).

Full results from day 1 can be found here.

Article by: Kensley Behel

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