Follow-Up: Men's Team Final at Gymnastics Worlds: Japan Defends Title with 251.928, China Takes Bronze at 249.193 as Top Three Book 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Team Berths
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — Japan scored 251.928 to defend its men's team title at the 2026 World Gymnastics Championships on Tuesday, October 20, Reuters and NBC Sports reported. Russia, competing as neutrals under the name "World Gymnastics 2" (WG2), took silver with 250.329, and China claimed bronze with 249.193. The three medal-winning teams also secured the first men's team berths for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The full final standings were: Japan 251.928; World Gymnastics 2 (Russia) 250.329; China 249.193; Great Britain 247.395; Switzerland 246.497; the United States 245.161; the Netherlands 241.294; and Colombia 240.093.
Japan was led by the last two Olympic all-around champions, Daiki Hashimoto and Shinnosuke Oka. Hashimoto competed on all six apparatus and anchored the team with a 14.866 on high bar, the final routine of Japan's night. Teammate Shohei Kawakami fell from the high bar in the last rotation and scored 13.100, but Japan still won by 1.599 points. NBC Sports noted it was Japan's third consecutive team title at an Olympics or world championships — after the 2023 Worlds and the Paris 2024 Olympics — its longest such run since its dynasty years of 1960 through 1978.
Great Britain led through four rotations, but falls on parallel bars and high bar in the closing rotations dropped the British team to fourth, 1.798 points short of the podium and an Olympic team berth.
China climbed from fourth place in qualifying to bronze in the final, competing without Zhang Boheng. Zou Jingyuan scored 15.366 on parallel bars and Lan Xingyu 14.733 on still rings, the highest marks of the final on those apparatus, but mistakes on vault, high bar and floor exercise left China 1.136 points behind the silver medal.
The Russians competed without their flag or anthem. International Gymnast Magazine noted it was the team's first medal in a world championships team competition since it won gold in 2019.
The United States finished sixth with 245.161. USA Today and NBC Sports both reported it was the U.S. men's lowest finish at an Olympics or world championships since 2006, when the Americans were 13th in qualifying and did not reach the team final. Patrick Hoopes scored 14.833 on pommel horse, the highest mark of the final on that apparatus. The Americans can still qualify a team for Los Angeles 2028 at the 2027 World Championships, where the remaining team berths will be decided. Host nation the Netherlands placed seventh, and Colombia's eighth place was its best-ever team result.
The championships continue on Wednesday, October 21, with the women's team final; China posted the highest score in women's qualifying, as GSM reported earlier.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 邹敬元在双杠旁（2025年世锦赛资料图，非本场现场图），Griff88 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0（Wikimedia Commons）
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