The United States earned bronze in the Paris Olympics men’s gymnastics team competition for its first medal since 2008.
The Americans had qualified in fifth place Saturday but put on a superb performance Monday, nailing most of their landings in the competition.
Pommel horse expert Stephen Nedoroscik clinched the bronze for the Americans by posting a team-best 14.866 in the final performance of the competition for the United States.
Japan surged past longtime rival China to win gold by 0.532 points. It was Japan’s eighth team gold and first since Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
The Japanese gymnasts overtook their rivals on the final rotation, after China’s Su Weide fell twice off the horizontal bar.
Japan finished with a total of 259.594 points, China had 259.062 and the United States had 257.793. Great Britain finished fourth with 255.527 points.
Russia, which won gold at the Tokyo Games, did not compete because of its invasion of Ukraine.
China had dominated qualifying ahead of Japan, the reigning world champion. They faced off in the same group, starting their competition on floor exercise. China looked set for its first gold medal in the competition since 2012 after taking the lead midway through the competition.
But Takaaki Sugino, Shinnosuke Oka and Tokyo Olympics all-around champion Daiki Hashimoto nailed Japan’s comeback with excellent displays on the horizontal bar while Sue faltered.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
