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Olympic Men's Gymnastics 2016: Qualification Scores, Results and Reaction

Tim Daniels

Qualification for the men's artistic gymnastics competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place Saturday in Rio de Janeiro. The athletes who earn berths in the discipline and all-around finals will return to action on Monday to go for gold.

Kohei Uchimura of Japan entered the Games as the all-around favorite after winning each of the last six World Championships in the event. He didn't look unbeatable during his qualifying run, however, leaving the door open for the rest of the field, including Ukraine's Oleg Verniaiev.

Let's check out the top finishers from each subdivision during Saturday's action, which will get updated with the conclusion of every round. Each table will be followed by a recap of the results. For a complete set of scores for every gymnast, visit the Olympics' official site.

Subdivision 1

2016 Summer Olympics: Artistic Gymnastics Qualification
Event Top Finisher Country Score
Team Japan - 269.294
All-Around Kohei Uchimura JPN 90.498
Floor Exercise Kohei Uchimura JPN 15.533
Pommel Horse Andrey Likhovitskiy BLR 15.233
Rings Eleftherios Petrounias GRE 15.833
Vault Kenzo Shirai JPN 15.283
Parallel Bars Manrique Larduet CUB 15.766
Horizontal Bars Epke Zonderland NED 15.366
Rio2016.com

There are two ways to view the qualification round for Uchimura. On one hand, he finished first in his subdivision in the all-around rankings, as expected. Yet he's going to need a much cleaner effort during the final in order to guarantee his spot atop the podium.

He's set such a high standard over the past handful of years that observers are usually left searching for even minor mistakes. Alas, Nick Zaccardi of NBC Olympic Talk noted the Japanese superstar's routine on the high bars today featured a rare major error:

Elsewhere, Eleftherios Petrounias of Greece put together an outstanding display on the rings to edge a highly competitive group that featured five gymnasts with a score above 15. Arthur Zanetti of Brazil, who won gold in the discipline four years ago, finished second in the group.

Petrounias, who won gold in both the World and European Championships last year, knows he'll need to take his performance up another notch in the final, as noted by the European Union of Gymnastics:

Manrique Larduet of Cuba was the other big name in the opening subdivision. He shined on the parallel bars to top those standings and finished third on the horizontal bars. Japan's Ryohei Kato was the only one to come close to matching those pair of results.

Larduet's performance in the vault could end up dooming him in the all-around competition, though. Dawn Rhodes of the Chicago Tribune summed up that lackluster showing:

Despite the slip-up Larduet managed to qualify for the all-around competition, albeit in a disappointing 15th place.

Ultimately, Uchimura's fall may end up generating the most attention, but his chances of claiming all-around gold will go up if Larduet doesn't pick up the slack. He was viewed as one of the select few athletes with a chance to take down the Japanese favorite.

Subdivision 2

2016 Summer Olympics: Artistic Gymnastics Qualification
Event Top Finisher Country Score
Team United States - 270.405
All-Around Nile Wilson GBR 89.240
Floor Exercise Samuel Mikulak USA 15.800
Pommel Horse Max Whitlock GBR 15.800
Rings Samir Ait Said FRA 15.533
Vault Se Gwang Ri PRK 15.433
Parallel Bars Danell Leyva USA 15.600
Horizontal Bars Fabian Hambuchen GER 15.533
Rio2016.com

The United States solidified itself as a contender for the team gold medal by besting Japan's score from earlier in the day during the second subdivision. It was truly a team effort with only one American, Samuel Mikulak, ranking in the top 10 of the individual all-around standings through two rounds.

Team USA received strong efforts from Mikulak and Jacob Dalton in the floor exercise, Alexander Naddour on the pommel horse and Danell Leyva on the parallel bars. Dalton also sat inside the top five of the vault heading into the final qualification round tonight.

Nick McCarvel of USA Today highlighted the team's more positive, confident attitude this time around, as relayed by Leyva:

Great Britain's Max Whitlock didn't have his best all-around day. He lacked execution on the vault and horizontal bar while falling below his usual standards in several other disciplines. But he came up with a clutch effort to put himself atop the pommel horse list.

Like Uchimura earlier, however, all bad days are relative. Even though his performance leaves plenty of room for improvement heading into the finals, Nancy Armour of USA Today noted he likely still gave himself a chance at multiple medals:

Unfortunately, one medal hopeful won't be able to go for gold after a gruesome injury. Samir Ait Said of France, who was the subdivision's top performer on the rings, suffered a severe leg injury while trying to land his vault.

Armour reported a loud crack was heard throughout the arena as Ait Said clutched for his left leg. He was immediately treated at the scene before getting stretchered off to receive further medical treatment. French teammate Cyril Tommasone explained how tough it was to push on after that, per USA Today.

"It was very difficult, very emotional," he said. "It's very hard for the French and for him. Very difficult."

The Rio 2016 organizing committee sent along its condolences after the injury:

All told, the United States exited the second subdivision as the biggest winner, both on an individual and a team basis. Great Britain still has several medal chances, as well. But everybody's thoughts are surely with Ait Said as he begins the road to recovery.

    

Subdivision 3

2016 Summer Olympics: Artistic Gymnastics Qualification
Event Top Finisher Country Score
Team China - 270.461
All-Around Oleg Verniaiev UKR 91.964
Floor Exercise Rayderley Miguel Zapata ESP 15.083
Pommel Horse Oleg Verniaiev UKR 15.566
Rings Yang Liu CHN 15.900
Vault Denis Abliazin RUS 15.416
Parallel Bars Oleg Verniaiev UKR 16.166
Horizontal Bars Oleg Verniaiev UKR 15.133
Rio2016.com

While all eyes were on Uchimura entering the games, Verniaiev stole the show in the third subdivision by qualifying first in the all-around with a score of 91.964.

Verniaiev beat Uchimura by nearly 1.5 points, and as Tumaini Carayol of Eurosport pointed out, the margin between the two gymnasts was even greater than the deduction Uchimura received for falling:

The 22-year-old Verniaiev finished just 11th in the all-around at the 2012 London Olympics, but he has progressed significantly since then.

The Ukrainian star won all-around gold at both the European Championships and European Games last year, and he proved capable of knocking off Uchimura Saturday, although he will need a repeat performance when the scores count toward medals.

Regardless of how he performs, former Welsh gymnast Harry Owen was taken aback by what he did in qualifying:

In addition to qualifying first for the all-around, Verniaiev was first in the parallel bars, and he qualified for the apparatus finals in the pommel horse, vault and horizontal bars.

Ukraine barely qualified for the team competition in seventh despite Verniaiev's efforts, which spoke to his teammates' struggles, per Rhodes:

While Verniaiev was fantastic individually, China stood out from a team perspective in Subdivision 3, as it qualified first for the team competition by barely edging out the United States.

China was powered by a number of strong performers, including Yang Liu, who qualified in the top spot on the rings.

Verniaiev and China may very well have established themselves as the new favorites in the premier events of men's gymnastics, but the pressure of medals being on the line could significantly alter the scores and showings with qualifying now officially in the books.

     

Qualifying List

Men's Gymnastics Qualifiers
Place Gymnast Country
Team
1 China -
2 United States -
3 Russia -
4 Japan -
5 Great Britain -
6 Brazil -
7 Ukraine -
8 Germany -
All-Around
1 Oleg Verniaiev UKR
2 Kohei Uchimura JPN
3 David Belyavskiy RUS
4 Sudi Deng CHN
5 Nile Wilson GBR
6 Ryohei Kato JPN
7 Samuel Mikulak USA
8 Sergio Sasaki BRA
9 Nikolai Kuksenkov RUS
10 Chaopan Lin CHN
11 Arthur Mariano BRA
12 Max Whitlock GBR
13 Jossimar Orlando Calvo Moreno COL
14 Bart Deurloo NED
15 Manrique Larduet CUB
16 Andrey Likhovitskiy BLR
17 Christopher Brooks USA
18 Oleg Stepko AZE
19 Pablo Braegger SUI
20 Marcel Nguyen GER
21 Axel Augis FRA
22 Andreas Bretschneider GER
23 Eddy Yusof SUI
24 Marios Georgiou CYP
Floor Exercise
1 Samuel Mikulak USA
2 Jacob Dalton USA
3 Kohei Uchimura JPN
4 Diego Hypolito BRA
5 Max Whitlock GBR
6 Kenzo Shirai JPN
7 Kristian Thomas GBR
8 Arthur Mariano BRA
Pommel Horse
1 Max Whitlock GBR
2 Louis Smith GBR
3 Cyril Tommasone FRA
4 Harutyun Merdinyan ARM
5 Oleg Verniaiev UKR
6 Nikolai Kuksenkov RUS
7 Alexander Naddour USA
8 David Belyavskiy RUS
Rings
1 Yang Liu CHN
2 Eleftherios Petrounias GRE
3 Hao You CHN
4 Denis Abliazin RUS
5 Arthur Zanetti BRA
6 Samir Ait Said FRA
7 Dennis Goossens BEL
8 Yuri Van Gelder NED
Vault
1 Se Gwang Ri PRK
2 Denis Abliazin RUS
3 Kenzo Sirai JPN
4 Igor Radivilov UKR
5 Marian Dragulescu ROU
6 Nikita Nagornyy RUS
7 Oleg Verniaiev UKR
8 Tomas Gonzalez CHI
Parallel Bars
1 Oleg Verniaiev UKR
2 David Belyavskiy RUS
3 Shudi Deng CHN
4 Manrique Larduet CUB
5 Hao You CHN
6 Danell Leyva USA
7 Ryohei Kato JPN
8 Andrei Vasile Muntean ROU
Horizontal Bars
1 Fabian Hambuechen GER
2 Nile Wilson GBR
3 Epke Zonderland NED
4 Danell Leyva USA
5 Francisco Barretto Junior BRA
6 Samuel Mikulak USA
7 Oleg Verniaiev UKR
8 Manrique Larduet CUB
Rio2016.com

   

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