Top five moments in gymnastics from Tokyo Olympics

Through all its twists and twirls, gymnastics has always thrown up surprises at the Olympics. The Tokyo edition back in 2021 was no different.

From Simone Biles’ decision to prioritize mental health to Bulgaria’s historic gold, the gymnastics events filled with art, rhythm and disappointment in Japan’s capital.

Here are the top five moments from the Tokyo Olympics and its gymnasts:

Simone Biles and the art of putting oneself first

After failing to stick her landing and not being at her shining best, ace American gymnast Simone Biles decided to step away from the ongoing team event at the Tokyo Olympics, citing mental health issues.

She had also withdrawn from the individual all-around. Ahead of the event finals, Biles had let known her feeling of being overwhelmed by the pressure of the Olympics. This possibly led her to have a case of the ‘twisties’ — an issue when a gymnast’s body and brain aren’t in sync which can affect a particular move in any event.

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Without one of their best gymnast, the USA women’s team went on to clinch the silver, but that wasn’t what was grabbing the headlines. Contrary to Biles’ belief, messages of support were pouring in for her after she’d gathered the courage to take a break mid-Games.

Such is her verve that Biles returned to the participating field for the beam event, where she ended up winning the bronze medal.

A rhythmic Bulgaria

Russia’s hegemony in rhythmic gymnastics was well known, with the team aiming for its sixth consecutive gold medal in the group event in Tokyo, a winning streak that had begun at the 2000 Sydney Games.

However, it was Bulgaria’s time to shine as the team pipped its fellow eastern-Europe nation to clinch its maiden gold medal, its best-ever finish since the silver medal in 1996, the year the group event debuted.

Oksana Chusovitina: graceful since 1992 and counting

Bulgarian gymnast Oksana Chusovitina broke all sorts of records when she appeared for a historic eighth time in the Olympics when she took to the floor in Tokyo. She was close to playing in her ninth Games but an injury she sustained a couple of months back forced her to pull out of the Asian Championships.

In Tokyo, Chusovitina failed to qualify for the vault finals of what was possibly, her last Games. However, the Uzbek doesn’t intend to stop being a gymnast any time soon. “Why should I leave the sport if it brings me joy?” she’d say to olympics.com last year.

An all-around Russian defeat

Linoy Ashram of Israel created history by becoming the first woman from her country to win a gold medal at the Olympics. She defeated favourite Dina Averina of Russia, the then defending world champion, to achieve the feat in the all-around event.

“I don’t know what I feel. I don’t have words, I’m so excited. It’s history,” the athlete had told olympics.com after the golden moment.

A usual day at the office for Japan

Keeping Kohei ‘Superman’ Uchimura’s legacy intact, youngster Daiki Hashimoto clinched two gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics to become Japan’s first man to do so since 1984.

The then-teenager won the title in the all-around event and the horizontal bars category. The Asian nation has always had a stronghold on men’s gymnastics, having won seven gold medals in the team event alone in the history of the Games.