Uchimura shows his gold mettle

Trailing by nearly a point entering Wednesday's final rotation and his chances of a second all-around title very much in jeopardy, Kohei Uchimura pondered what for the last seven years has been unthinkable.

He thought about losing.

"I felt really close to admitting that it might be very difficult," Uchimura said.

It was. It just wasn't impossible. Not for the greatest male gymnast of all time.

Delivering a fearless high bar with a gold medal on the line, the Japanese superstar put all the pressure on Ukraine's Oleg Verniaiev. And when Verniaiev's routine minutes later ended with a small hop and an ever-so slight lean to the left on his dismount, Uchimura was back where he's always been - at the top.

Maybe that's why Verniaiev couldn't stop smiling even though Uchimura's total of 92.365 was less than a tenth or a point ahead of his 92.266.

"I think this is really the coolest thing in the world," Verniaiev said. "The very fact we can compete with him is amazing. Today we managed to put on an amazing show."

One that ended the way it always has since Uchimura captured his first world championship in 2009 - with the elegant Japanese icon standing atop the podium with a gold medal around his neck.

"This really was the trickiest for me," Uchimura said after becoming the first man in nearly 50 years to repeat as Olympic champion.

Verniaiev led from the second rotation on, answering every time it seemed Uchimura was ready to take over.

When Uchimura drilled a 15.56 on vault, Verniaiev responded with a 15.55. Verniaiev's precise parallel bars routine - his body pencil straight as he pressed into a handstand, his legs seemingly duct-taped together - put him up by .901 points heading into high bar.

When Uchimura's high-flying set ended with a stuck landing and a 15.8, Verniaiev needed a 14.9 to win Ukraine's first all-around Olympic title.

Instead, he got a 14.8. And he seemed kind of pumped up about it.

"I'm quite happy I managed to make Kohei very nervous," Verniaiev said with a laugh.

Max Whitlock earned Britain's first all-around medal in 108 years by taking bronze, just ahead of Russia's David Belyavskiy.

Really, though, the night belonged to Verniaiev and Uchimura. Their two-hour duel provided the closest call in Uchimura's run of two Olympic crowns and six world all-around championships.

"There's only the tiniest gap, a 0.1 gap," Uchimura said. "I really have no confidence I should say, that I can beat Oleg."

Verniaiev equated Uchimura to a gymnastics version of Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt, territory the ever gracious champion immediately deflected.

"Everybody in the world knows those names," he said.

"But Kohei Uchimura? Who is this man? I don't think I'm well known in the world."

There's time. Uchimura will take a break following the Rio Games but has no plans to retire. The next Summer Olympics are back home in Tokyo, and the opportunity to finish things off in front of his countrymen - and his daughter - will be far too attractive to pass up.

"By then my daughter will be old enough so that I really hope I can to show her what her father can do," he said.

Uchimura arrived in Rio as the overwhelming favorite to back up the all-around gold he won in London four years ago.

Despite all the individual hype, he repeatedly stressed the only thing that mattered to him was team gold.

That triumphant moment happened on Monday when Japan soared to victory.

While Uchimura was exulting in triumph, Verniaiev was just warming up. Ukraine qualified for the team final but basically gave up when Maksym Semiankiv couldn't participate in the finals due to injury.

(China Daily 08/12/2016 page5)