Hashimoto overcomes Zhang for third consecutive World title

Japan’s Hashimoto Daiki conquered the field again at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Jakarta, following in the footsteps of idol Uchimura Kohei to become the second Japanese man to win three consecutive World All-Around titles.

“For me, this medal is more than just a medal,” he said. “It is a way for me to find out how to get the wins.”

Already the top gymnast in the preliminary rounds, Hashimoto added more than two points to his qualification score as he swept through the All-Around final with brio to tally 85.131 points. That Hashimoto was in fine form was evident from his first routine on Floor Exercise, where sharp tumbling earned him 14.000. It would remain the highest number of the night on the apparatus.

Hashimoto was also the highest scorer on Vault (14.466) and Horizontal Bar (14.700). While his domestic rival Oka Shinnosuke started well and even led at one point, the 2024 Olympic champion faded on Floor Exercise, missing a 2.5 twist to front layout and removing himself from contention.

That left China’s Zhang Boheng and rising Swiss star Noe Seifert for Hashimoto to contend with. Zhang had the top score on Still Rings (14.600), while Seifert was the best competitor on Pommel Horse (14.000). But Seifert’s lower-difficulty double-twisting Yurchenko vault was only 12th best, and Zhang faded on Parallel Bars, the apparatus he considers his weakest.

That left Hashimoto a clear pathway to the title provided he hit his final routine on Horizontal Bar. Hashimoto obliged with 14.700, the highest score of the night, giving him victory by 0.798.

Hashimoto said he found this All-Around competition was not easier than qualification, “but it’s more familiar now,” he commented, “and I adapted to this.”

After a qualification round littered with errors, the majority of the 24 men who made the cut appeared to have sorted out their difficulties. Wednesday night’s competition in the Indonesia Arena was a tight one, with eight men in contention for the podium. Shi Cong of China, Oka, Angel Barajas of Colombia, Daniel Marinov (AIN), and Hungarian Krisztofer Meszaros made up the top eight.

Zhang’s silver is his second since he announced himself by defeating newly-crowned Olympic champion Hashimoto for the title in 2021. The 25-year-old took silver in their last Worlds battle in 2022 and skipped the World Championships in favor of the Asian Games in 2023.

“I feel that I am not doing my maximum performance, and I appreciate the other athletes’ performances,” the always-courteous Zhang said. “I found my mistakes in the qualifications and I improved my mistakes into perfections,’ he added.

For his part, Seifert was thrilled to end on the podium after a challenging year that involved a prolonged struggle with his Horizontal Bar routine. “I’m just a Swiss guy who does gymnastics,” the 26-year-old marvelled. “It’s just amazing. I just still can’t believe it.”

In the end, Hashimoto kept the promise he made to the media before the competition. “I will win,” he had told them. And he did.

He hopes it won’t be his last victory, either.

“Winning three championships is not easy. I will try my best to win a fourth, a seventh, who knows?” Hashimoto said.