Paris [France], August 6 (ANI): Japan’s Shinnosuke Oka continued to harvest medals at the ongoing Paris Olympics after clinching his third gold medal in the men’s horizontal bar event.
Oka came out at the top with a score of 14.533 points and secured at the top of the podium. The Japanese gymnast added another medal to his individual and team medals in Paris.
This was his third gold and fourth overall in Paris. Apart from his three top podium finishes, he won a bronze in the pommel horse event.
A new gold medallist was guaranteed in the event after Tokyo champion Japan’s gymnast Daiki Hashimoto failed to qualify for the final.
Following his win, a visibly elated Oka admitted that he wasn’t expecting to stand at the top of the podium and said, as quoted from Olympic.com, “I didn’t really expect to win a gold medal on the horizontal bar.”
“My favourite one is, of course, the gold medal in the team final because that’s what we’ve been working so hard for. It’s a collective result,” Oka added.
Colombia’s Angel Barajas, who had the same score as Oka, settled for the silver due to a lower execution score, breaking the tie. China’s Zhang Boheng tied for the third place with a 13.966, along with Chinese Taipei’s Tang Chia-Hung.
The 17-year-old also became the first medallist from Colombia to win an Olympic medal in gymnastics.
After the final standings were revealed, the youngster broke down into tears of joy. Barajas revealed that he was satisfied with the result and said, “This is a promise I made myself a long time ago. Of course, for this reason, I am very happy and satisfied (with the result). I know I did a good job and wrote history for Colombia by doing so.”
“To be a 17-year-old in the Olympics is a crazy experience, but it is more important to just enjoy it out there,” he added. (ANI)
