Ones to watch in men’s gymnastics at Paris 2024

By Nate Maretzki | July 24, 2024
Kazuma Kaya celebrates during the men's team final at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships.
© Amy Sanderson/Gymnastics Now

With the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games looming, all eyes are on artistic gymnastics – one of the biggest sports of the Games.

In just a few short days, qualifications for both men’s (Saturday, August 27) and women’s (Sunday, August 28) artistic gymnastics will begin, and the playing field for finals will be set. For the men, with 12 teams of five and 36 individual athletes competing, this year’s Games will be as exhilarating as ever. Nevertheless, a stacked lineup of so many gymnasts can be confusing when trying to determine who is truly in contention for the podium. This brief overview of all the men’s events should aid your viewing experience!

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Team

Team Japan celebrating winning gold at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships. (© Amy Sanderson/Gymnastics Now)
Team Japan celebrating winning gold at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships. (© Amy Sanderson/Gymnastics Now)

While the ban of Russian and Belarusian teams will be felt across Olympic events, Russia’s absence from gymnastics competition will be especially significant. The nation’s momentum from winning gold in Tokyo was shattered in 2022 by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the FIG and IOC banning the countries of Russia and Belarus from competing. Systems have been implemented since to allow select athletes to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN), but no artistic gymnasts have earned that status, meaning none will be in Paris.

With Russia out of the picture, the competition for team gold is largely narrowed down to two teams: Japan and China, who won silver and bronze, respectively, at the 2020 Tokyo Games. Japan, led by 2020 Olympic all-around champion Daiki Hashimoto, came within two-tenths of winning in Tokyo. Accompanied by 2020 Olympic pommel horse bronze medalist Kazuma Kaya and 2023 Asian Championships all-around champion Shinnosuke Oka, Japan’s team composition is poised to capitalize on its historic strengths. On the other hand, China’s lineup may be one of the strongest in program history. With Liu Yang’s rings and Zou Jingyuan’s parallel bars backed by Zhang Boheng’s all-around prowess, China will be a force to behold in Paris. The two countries have been swapping Olympic and world podium placings for years, so expect a show as the rivalry continues.

“The strengths and weaknesses are fairly balanced,” China’s Xiao Ruoteng said after podium training Wednesday. “The Japanese team is younger and may have better stamina, but we have more experience.”

After the top two teams, the competition for bronze is where things get interesting.

Ukraine, the surprise 2024 European Championships winner, will be one to watch after narrowly qualifying a team to the Games at 2023 Worlds. Considering current geopolitics, the country’s path to Paris has been anything but easy. Riding this momentum to an Olympic medal would be a powerful story of triumph in the face of adversity. Great Britain, in the same vein, has found tremendous recent success. With a combination of Joe Fraser’s proven talent and Jake Jarman’s ever-sharpening abilities, this could be the lineup that finally ends GB’s drought on the team podium that dates back to 2012. Finally, the U.S. team, led by decorated all-arounder Brody Malone, has the chance to secure its first team medal since 2008. Team USA has worked tirelessly to close the difficulty gap with China and Japan this quad, implementing a difficulty bonus system to help achieve the feat. While there is still a gap, it is less than the significant margin in Tokyo that put the team at a disadvantage before even setting foot in the arena.

“We are ready for this,” Ukraine’s Oleg Verniaiev said. “We think about this. My thinking is that China and Japan will fight for first and second place. Ukraine, Great Britain, and the USA will fight for the bronze medal.”

Even considering the aforementioned countries, team competitions are never certain, making this year’s one you won’t want to miss.

All-Around

Daiki Hashimoto (JPN) celebrating during the men's team final at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships. (© Amy Sanderson/Gymnastics Now)
Daiki Hashimoto (JPN) celebrating during the men’s team final at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships. (© Amy Sanderson/Gymnastics Now)

Just as intriguing as the team competition, some stellar all-around performances are expected in Paris. Predicting exact placements is almost impossible, as proven by Tokyo gold medalist Hashimoto. While he had been instrumental in Japan’s 2019 World Championships bronze medal, his name was still relatively unknown to the broader community three years ago. His breakthrough came just months before the Tokyo Games, when he became Japan’s national all-around champion in 2021. Few saw his prolific rise coming, especially considering his age of just 19 at the time. Nevertheless, he shocked the world, beating China’s Xiao and ROC’s Nikita Nagornyy.

Despite being unpredictable, it’s always fun to guess. As usual, Japan and China top the list of contenders, with Hashimoto aiming to clench a second consecutive title and his friendly rival Zhang Boheng (CHN) hoping to dethrone him. They’ve both battled injuries this year (Hashimoto finger, Zhang back), but arrive to Paris seemingly on the mend. Both teams have others who could also contend for medals, like Japan’s Oka and China’s Xiao.

“My finger has improved significantly since July, and I can move it well now,” Hashimoto said after podium training. “Initially, the swelling made gripping difficult in the mornings. However, as it heals, my routines have improved, especially on the horizontal bar. My shoulder pain has also decreased. I felt a great connection during the routines today, even if some movements were overly ambitious.”

Past the two powerhouse nations, there are plenty of formidable podium contenders. Proven names like Illia Kovtun of Ukraine (and teammate Verniaiev, who won silver in 2016), 2023 world bronze medalist Fred Richard and Brody Malone of the U.S., and Carlos Yulo of the Philippines. If any of them have an excellent meet, they could be in the mix, especially if the aforementioned stars from Japan and China falter.

Floor Exercise

Carlos Yulo (PHI) during the floor final at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships. (© Amy Sanderson/Gymnastics Now)
Carlos Yulo (PHI) during the floor final at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships. (© Amy Sanderson/Gymnastics Now)

Floor exercise in Paris is already shaping up to be a fascinating final, featuring a mix of veterans and rising newcomers, expect the top scores to all be within mere tenths.

The clear favorite from afar is Artem Dolgopyat of Israel, the reigning Olympic and world champion on the event. A clean 6.3+ start value routine would be enough to easily put him in medal contention, and his consistency suggests that won’t be a problem. Arguably the best front tumbler in the world, Rayderley Zapata tied with Dolgopyat in the Tokyo floor final but lost due to tiebreak. He’s in Paris and will surely want to try to improve on his silver.

Great Britain has prioritized individual medals with its team, and the result is a powerhouse squad on floor, with a triple back (Luke Whitehouse), two tucked triple-doubles (Harry Hepworth, Fraser), a laid-out triple-double (Jarman), and the 2016 Olympic floor champion (Max Whitlock – although he’s focused on pommel horse in Paris). While they put on a show in podium training, the 22-year-old Jarman has been on a tear as of late. He’s the reigning world, European, and Commonwealth champion on vault, but his floor is equally as difficult and jaw-dropping, start to finish. A host of other athletes are also worth keeping an eye on, including Yulo, Hashimoto, Richard, Nicola Bartolini of Italy, Milad Karimi of Kazakhstan, and Ryu Sunghyun of Korea.

Pommel Horse

Max Whitlock (GBR) during the men's team final at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships. (© Amy Sanderson/Gymnastics Now)
Max Whitlock (GBR) during the men’s team final at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships. (© Amy Sanderson/Gymnastics Now)

Out of all the events, this year’s pommel horse competition might be the most contentious. The lineup includes Max Whitlock (GBR) and Rhys McClenaghan (IRL), potentially pitting the two-time defending Olympic pommel horse champion (Whitlock) against the two-time reigning world champion. Whitlock, as the most successful pommel horse worker in Olympic history, is looking to extend his reign against a worthy challenger. If he wins a medal in Paris, Whitlock will become the first gymnast to win a medal on the same apparatus at four consecutive Olympic Games. Expect a showdown in the final if both qualify like they’re expected to. They’ll have some of the highest difficulty in the entire meet, and their routines will be spectacles. Other podium contenders include Stephen Nedoroscik of the USA, Kazuma Kaya of Japan, Hur Woong of South Korea, Ahmad Abu Al Soud of Jordan.

Rings

Eleftherios Petrounias (GRE) during the rings final at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships. (© Amy Sanderson/Gymnastics Now)
Eleftherios Petrounias (GRE) during the rings final at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships. (© Amy Sanderson/Gymnastics Now)

Much like pommel horse, the top-tier rings competition in Paris has two distinct front-runners: Liu Yang of China and Eleftherios Petrounias of Greece. Yang, famous for his mid-cross neck crack during Tokyo’s rings final, is the reigning Olympic champion. Petrounias is the 2016 Olympic champion and 2020 bronze medalist. Their rivalry dates back more than a decade, and continued last fall at Worlds when Liu won gold and Petrounias took silver. Both generational talents, the final will likely boil down to a faceoff between these two athletes. Other talented workers with the potential to make the podium are Adem Asil of Turkey, Samir Ait Said of France, Ibrahim Colak of Turkey, and Vahagn Davtyan of Armenia – all proven rings virtuosos in their own right.

Vault

Jake Jarman (GBR) during the vault final at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships. (© Amy Sanderson/Gymnastics Now)
Jake Jarman (GBR) during the vault final at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships. (© Amy Sanderson/Gymnastics Now)

Considering how fickle competing on vault is, predicting winners is a comedic endeavor. Nevertheless, if there was a safe bet for a medalist, it would be Tokyo bronze medalist Artur Davtyan of Armenia. With more Dragulescu sticks than any other top vault worker, his consistency is truly unmatched (save a flub at 2023 Worlds), and it will pay dividends when the pressure builds. As well as Davtyan, Jarman is one to watch on his other trademark event, as shown by his astonishing stuck Kas 2.5 at 2023 Worlds that earned him gold. A few good landings could earn the 22-year-old his first Olympic medal. Asher Hong of the USA is a similar case, and while his Ri Se Gwang has captivated the American gymnastics scene, only time will tell if he can display the execution necessary to contend with the best in the world. He’s looking to do a Kas double as his second vault in Paris. A few others to look out for with the potential for huge scores are Asil, Yulo, Igor Radivilov and Nazar Chepurnyi of Ukraine, and Mahdi Olfati of Iran.

Parallel Bars

Zou Jingyuan (CHN) on parallel bars at the 2022 World Gymnastics Championships.
Zou Jingyuan (CHN) on parallel bars at the 2022 World Gymnastics Championships. (© Amy Sanderson/Gymnastics Now)

With no hesitation, parallel bars in Paris will almost certainly be dominated by one man: China’s Zou Jingyuan. As the gold medalist in Tokyo by an unprecedented margin of over five-tenths, his raw talent is hard to put into words. He also owns three world titles. Zou’s routine has remained largely unchanged since 2017, resulting in a baffling display of world class difficulty and execution that still remains above the competition.

If there was any challenger to his throne, it would be Tokyo silver medalist Lukas Dauser (GER) – a force on the event and the reigning world champion. Unfortunately, Dauser has been set back recently by a bicep injury. Despite this, he was still named to the German team and will fight for gold. In addition, Kovtun, Verniaiev, Fraser, Yulo, Hashimoto, Oka, and Ferhat Arican and Ahmet Onder of Turkey could all be in the mix.

High Bar

Tin Srbic (CRO) on high bar at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships. (© Amy Sanderson/Gymnastics Now)
Tin Srbic (CRO) on high bar at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships. (© Amy Sanderson/Gymnastics Now)

Out of all the men’s events, high bar is the most volatile. What we can say about the Paris contenders is all eyes will be on Hashimoto to defend his gold medal from Tokyo. At the three Worlds since, he’s won two silvers (’21, ’22) and gold (’23). If he does end up competing a similar 6.5-6.7 start value routine, chances are he’ll breeze into the finals and possibly to another title. Brody Malone, meanwhile, has an entirely different story since winning his world title in 2022. After a catastrophic accident on his high bar dismount tap in March 2023 left him with a nearly career-ending injury, the Olympics were the furthest thing from his mind. Somehow, 16 months later, he is leading Team USA to what could be their first Olympic team medal in 16 years. A medal on the event that almost ended his career would be a story of the Games, and judging by his success at U.S. Olympic Trials, it’s certainly a possibility. Beyond Hashimoto and Malone, keep an eye on Richard, Tin Srbic of Croatia, Carlo Macchini of Italy, Arthur Mariano of Brazil, Noah Kuavita of Belgium, Takaaki Sugino of Japan, and Tang Chia-Hung of Chinese Taipei.

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