ROTTERDAM, Netherlands - Japan successfully defended its men's team title Tuesday at the artistic gymnastics world championships, securing qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games in the process.
The reigning Olympic team champion totaled 251.928 to finish 1.599 points ahead of silver medalist Russia, marking its return to international competition, while China claimed bronze. The top three teams in Rotterdam earned Olympic berths.
Japan's powerhouse squad featured Olympic all-around gold medalists Daiki Hashimoto and Shinnosuke Oka, along with Shohei Kawakami, Ryosuke Doi and Fusuke Maeda.
It came into the six-apparatus final as the top qualifier but did not take the lead until the latter stages of the competition, with Tokyo Olympic all-around champion Hashimoto scoring 14.866 on the horizontal bar in the last rotation to seal the title.
"Our focus was on becoming world champion more than qualifying for the Los Angeles Olympics," said Hashimoto, who competed on all six apparatuses.
"I asked to be the last one to perform on the horizontal bar. I'm happy I could help everyone become gold medalists."
Oka, winner of the all-around title among three gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, lauded his teammates for their hard work, while singling out Hashimoto for his clutch performance.
"Daiki has an absolute sense of security and strength that I don't have," he said. "I respect that position and think it's amazing."
Including the Paris Games, Japan has topped the men's team podium at the past three major international competitions and heads toward Los Angeles with high expectations.
The Japanese women's team will try to book its Olympic ticket in Wednesday's final, for which it qualified fifth.
Oka and Hashimoto will go head-to-head in the men's individual all-around final on Thursday. Oka topped qualifying ahead of second-place Hashimoto, who is bidding for a fourth straight all-around world title.
