Artistic Gymnastics 2024 Paris Olympics Review

Men’s Team All-Around 

China dominated qualification, leading Japan with incredible scores in the rings and the parallel bars. Great Britain qualified third despite only scoring 40 on the horizontal bars while Ukraine qualified fourth, only managing 39 on the same apparatus. Following the opening rotation, Great Britain topped the leaderboard, having performed on their favored apparatus, ahead of Japan and Canada. A slip on the pommel horse from Daiki Hashimoto (Japan) dropped them behind China and United States, who led following a powerful vault. At halfway, China held a lead of 1.2 from the USA with Great Britain almost two points behind. They were only separated with Ukraine and Japan by less than 0.2. Ukraine catapulted ahead with a strong rotation, only trailing China by 0.4 after four completed rotations. The parallel bars widened the Chinese lead, giving them an edge of 3.2 over Japan. United States sat in third, with a lead of 1.8 from Ukraine with Great Britain a further 2.1 behind. Seemingly, set up for a drama free round, China had three falls on the horizontal bars. As he so often has, Hashimoto delivered an incredible routine under pressure to seal gold. United States took bronze with a strong set of pommel horse routines. 

🥇Japan 🇯🇵

🥈China 🇨🇳

🥉United States 🇺🇸

Prediction analysis; 3 medalists correct, 3 perfect prediction 

I got the top four correct although it took a monumental collapse from China 

Men’s Individual All-Around

The top six qualifiers came from three nations. Zhang Boheng (China) led with a score of 88.597, while teammate Xiao Ruoteng (China) sat fourth. Shinnosuke Oka (Japan) was second on 86.865 , just ahead of teammate Daiki Hashimoto (Japan), who had three scores under 14. Jake Jarman (Great Britain) was fifth despite a 12.900 while Joe Fraser (Great Britain) qualified in sixth.  Fred Richard (United States) begun the final by falling off the pommel. Jarman led after the floor routine with 14.9, edging Oleg Verniaiev (Ukraine) on 14.833. Boheng struggled early, sitting 20th after a sloppy floor routine. Hashimoto stepped down from the pommel horse, potentially costing him a medal. After two rotations, Oka led Jarman with neither Boheng nor Hashimoto in the top ten. At halfway, Oka led on 42.932 ahead of Verniaev on 42.766 and Ruoteng on 42.399. Verniaev led after four rotations ahead of Illia Kovtun (Ukraine) and Ruoteng who was tied with Oka. With one rotation remaining Oka led Ruoteng with Boheng lurking behind and Kovtun, Jarman and Fraser all be ready to capitalise if anyone disappointed. Kovtun posted the best score of that chasing trio. Ruoteng was first of the leaders, scoring 14.366 to seal the lead. Oka would go back into the lead with a 14.5. Boheng, last up, scored 14.633 - enough for silver, but not gold.

🥇Shinnosuke Oka 🇯🇵

🥈Zhang Boheng 🇨🇳

🥉Xiao Ruoteng 🇨🇳

Prediction analysis; 1 medalists correct, 1 perfect prediction 

It is going to be a trend that I did not even really consider Oka as a contender.

Men’s Floor 

Jake Jarman (Great Britain) topped qualification thanks to his high difficulty with Carlos Yulo (Philippines) executing best to qualify in second, ahead of Ray Zapata (Spain). Defending champion, Artem Dolgopyat (Israel) only qualified seventh. In the final, Zapata opened with a 14.333, before Dolgopyat raised the bar with a 14.966 to set a big marker. Yulo followed and a routine full with big tumbles saw him take the lead with a score of 15. Milad Karimi (Kazakhstan) went into third with a 14.5, but Jarman responded with a 14.933, to slot into bronze. Illia Kovtun (Ukraine) came closest but could only finish fourth.  

🥇Carlos Yulo 🇵🇭

🥈Artem Dolgopyat 🇮🇱

🥉Jake Jarman 🇬🇧

Prediction analysis; 1 medalist correct

I mentioned Yulo as the likeliest to score over 15 but wasn’t sure he could remain consistent over a busy schedule 

Men’s Pommel Horse 

Rhys McClengahan (Ireland) and Stephen Nedoroscik (United States) qualified strongly with scores of 15.2, ahead of Max Whitlock (Great Britain) on 15.166. Nariman Kurbanov (Kazakhstan) started the final with a massive score of 15.433. Whitlock followed, but without his usual precision, scoring only 15.2. McClengahan then delivered a flawless routine to score 15.533. Nedoroscik went into bronze medal place with 15.300 and the medals went unchanged. Ultimately, it was the three men who executed best that finished on the podium. 

🥇Rhys McClengahan 🇮🇪

🥈Nariman Kurbanov 🇰🇿

🥉Stephen Nedoroscik 🇺🇸

Prediction analysis; 2 medalists correct, 0 perfect prediction 

The four I mentioned as the top four finished in those positions. I didn’t get the order though, potentially giving too much credit to Whitlock. 

Men’s Rings 

This was expected to be all about the Chinese team and they dominated the competition. Zou Jingyuan (China) led qualification from Liu Yang (China) with Samir Ait Said (France) in third. In the final, Jingyuan opened with a score of 15.223 but Yang followed, taking the lead with a score of 15.300. Eleftherios Petrounias (Greece) posted 15.1 as the third starter. None of the other competitors scored over 15 leaving the podium unchanged for the remainder of the competition.

🥇Liu Yang 🇨🇳

🥈Zou Jingyuan 🇨🇳

🥉Eleftherios Petrounias 🇬🇷 

Prediction analysis; 2 medalists correct, 2 perfect prediction 

I mentioned that China could have two medalists here. Asil could only come fifth 

Men’s Vault 

Adem Asil (Turkey) led qualifying after the first vault, as he and Jake Jarman (Great Britain) both scored over 15. The strongest second vaults, came from Harry Hepworth (Great Britain) and Aurel Benovic (Croatia) who both scored 14.9. Nazar Chepurnyi (Ukraine) ultimately topped qualification with Asil missing out on the final altogether. In the final, Chepurnyi opened with a 14.899, only for Hepworth to go into the lead with a 14.949. Carlos Yulo (Philippines) was the first to break the 15-point barrier with a 15.116. Artur Davtyan (Armenia) took the silver medal with a score of 14.966. 

🥇Carlos Yulo 🇵🇭

🥈Artur Davtyan 🇦🇲

🥉Harry Hepworth 🇬🇧

Prediction analysis; 2 medalists correct, 2 perfect prediction 

I got the top two correct with penalties from Hong in qualifying making him miss out on the final 

Men’s Parallel Bars

Zou Jingyuan (China) dominated qualification with the best execution score, despite sharing the highest difficulty rating. The final featured two Chinese, two Japanese and two Ukrainian gymnasts. Ilia Kovtun (Ukraine) started the final off with a strong 15.5. He held onto that lead until the sixth competitor, Jingyuan, delivered a massive 16.2 to go into the gold medal spot. The podium was completed by Shinnosuke Ota (Japan) with a 15.3 

🥇Zou Jingyuan 🇨🇳

🥈Ilia Kovtun 🇺🇦

🥉Shinnosuke Ota 🇯🇵

Prediction analysis; 2 medalists correct, 1 perfect prediction 

I did ignore Ota here. Jingyuan went over 16 but no one else was able to get to the high 15s as predicted 

Men’s Horizontal Bar

Zhang Boheng (China) entered the final as the only qualifier to score over 15. He had the highest execution score, tied with Tang Chia-huang (Taiwan) and Shinnosuke Oka (Japan). Chia-huang fell in the final limiting his score to 13.966. Oka followed with a score of 14.533, a score matched by Angel Barajas (Colombia) but Oka retained the lead due to superior execution. Both Marios Georgiou (Cyprus) and Boheng delivered strong routines but faltered on their landings.

🥇Shinnosuke Oka 🇯🇵

🥈Angel Barajas 🇨🇴

🥉Zhang Boheng 🇨🇳

🥉Tang Chia-huang 🇹🇼

Prediction analysis; 0 medalists correct, 0 perfect prediction 

I did mention Chia-hung as a contender but otherwise was nowhere near.

Women’s Team All-Around

The United States showed their dominance in the qualifying, posting the top score in each rotation, building a lead of over five points. Italy held second place but were separated by less than 0.4 from Brazil and China. Japan's chances took a big hit, pre-tournament when they sent home Shoko Miyata (Japan) without a replacement. The United States started strong in the final, leading by 1.4 over China, who opened on their best apparatus. By halfway, the lead had grown to over three points, with Italy moving ahead of China. Jordan Chiles (United States) posted the team's lowest score, a 12.733 on beam, but they still led by 2.5. It was still Italy in second ahead of Great Britain and Canada. Strong routines from both saw Italy lead Britain by a point, with Brazil a further 1.3 behind, all with one gymnast to go. A massive vault from Andrade pushed Brazil to 164.497 put pressure on Alice Kinsella (Great Britain) who was unable to keep up, handing the bronze to Brazil, behind Italy.

🥇United States 🇺🇸

🥈Italy 🇮🇹

🥉Brazil 🇧🇷

Prediction analysis; 2 medalists correct, 2 perfect prediction 

France disappointed by not qualifying for the final. Italy impressed despite missing a D’amato twin. 

Women’s Individual All-Around

Simone Biles (United States) qualified first, nearly two points ahead of Rebeca Andrade (Brazil), who in turn held a cushion of over 1.5 ahead of Sunisa Lee (United States). Jordan Chiles (United States) would have qualified fourth but missed out due to the two-per-country rule. In the final, Biles and Andrade immediately showed their class, scoring over 15, while Ellie Black (Canada) sat third on 14.066. Andrade led after the second rotation, with Biles struggling on uneven bars, and Kaylia Nemour (Algeria) climbed into second. Biles reclaimed top spot on the balance beam, leading by 0.166 from Andrade, while Alice D’Amato (Italy) moved into third ahead of Nemour. Instead, it was Lee who secured a medal with an stunning floor routine. Andrade briefly retook the lead with a 14.033 only for Biles to seal gold with a 15.066. 

🥇Simone Biles 🇺🇸

🥈Rebeca Andrade 🇧🇷

🥉Sunisa Lee 🇺🇸

Prediction analysis; 3 medalists correct, 3 perfect prediction 

The top three felt like one of the more predictable 

Women’s Vault 

Simone Biles (United States) dominated qualification, scoring 15.8 and 14.8. Rebeca Andrade (Brazil) was the only other gymnast with a vault above 14.7 and qualified second. Jade Carey (United States) qualified third, while Jordan Chiles (United States) was fourth best but missed the final due to the two-per-country rule. In the final, Valentina Georgieva (Bulgaria) opened with a 13.983 before An Chang-ok (North Korea) briefly led with a 14.216. Biles all but sealed gold with her first vault, a massive 15.7. A second vault of 14.9 gave her an average of 15.3. Andrade posted 15.1 and 14.833 for silver. Despite being clear of the rest of the field, she could not keep up with the difficulty of Biles. Carey would secure bronze with vaults of 14.733 and 14.2.

🥇Simone Biles 🇺🇸

🥈Rebeca Andrade 🇧🇷

🥉Jade Carey 🇺🇸

Prediction analysis; 2 medalists correct, 2 perfect prediction 

Carey was one of the possible contenders I mentioned for third 

Women’s Uneven Bars 

Kaylia Nemour (Algeria) dominated qualification, with the highest difficulty and execution, scoring 15.6. Qiu Qiuyan (China) was the only other gymnast to score over 15. In the final, Alice D’Amato (Italy) set the early benchmark of 14.733, only for Nina Derwael to edge ahead at 14.766. Qiuyan raised the bar by scoring 15.5 but Nemour responded to the pressure by delivering a marvellous 15.7. Sunisa Lee (United States) was last to compete and sealed bronze with a 14.8

🥇Kaylia Nemour 🇩🇿

🥈Qiu Qiuyan 🇨🇳

🥉Sunisa Lee 🇺🇸

Prediction analysis; 2 medalists correct, 2 perfect prediction 

Nemour was so good. Andrade who I predicted to win bronze didn’t even make the final. 

Women’s Balance Beam

Zhou Yaqin (China) led qualification ahead of Simone Biles (United States) and opened the final with a 14.1, despite a few wobbles. Manila Esposito (Italy) followed by scoring 14.0, only for compatriot Alice D’Amato (Italy) to go into the lead with a 14.366. Both Biles and Sunisa Lee (United States) came off the beam, ending their medal hopes. Rebeca Andrade (Brazil) was last to compete and scored only 13.933, not enough to make the podium. 

🥇Alice D’Amato 🇮🇹

🥈Zhou Yaqin 🇨🇳

🥉Manila Esposito 🇮🇹

Prediction analysis; 0 medalists correct

I mentioned Esposito as a possible outsider. 

Women’s Floor

Simone Biles (United States) led qualification as the only gymnast to score over 14, despite a 0.1 penalty. In the final, Rebeca Andrade (Brazil) put the pressure on with a 14.166, followed by Ana Barbosa (Romania) at 13.7. Biles followed and could only post a total of 14.133 after two out-of-bounds penalties. Sabrina Maneca-Voinea (Romania) was next and a penalty of 0.1, saw her total 13.7, edged by her teammate on a tiebreak. Jordan Chiles (United States) went into fifth with a 13.666. Then came the controversy as Chiles and Maneca-Voinea both filed inquiries. Chiles was initially awarded an extra 0.1, moving into bronze medal position. However, an appeal to CAS ruled the inquiry for Chiles was submitted too late, relegating her off the podium.

🥇Rebeca Andrade 🇧🇷

🥈Simone Biles 🇺🇸

🥉Ana Barbosu 🇷🇴

 

Prediction analysis; 2 medalists correct

I said that Biles was not unbeatable and so Andrade proved. I mentioned Maneca-Voinea as an outside but instead it was her teammate.