‘I don’t believe what we’re seeing,’ cries BBC commentator during Olympics 2024 final as fans say ‘gymnastics is broken’
FANS and commentators were shocked by the men’s horizontal bar final after five athletes fell in a bizarre scenes.
Eight gymnasts qualified for the showpiece at the Bercy Arena in Paris.
AFPSeveral gymnasts fell in the high bar final[/caption]
GettyTin Srbic fell twice in shocking scenes[/caption]
ReutersBoheng Zhang slipped on dismount but still got bronze[/caption]
ReutersMarios Georgiou fell as he tried to land to scupper his medal dreams[/caption]
Japan star Shinnosuke Oka won gold, Colombian star Angel Barajas came second and bronze was shared between China’s Zhang Boheng and Taiwan’s Tang Chia-Hung.
Boheng finished in third despite stumbling on dismount due to his almost flawless routine until landing.
But he was still fortunate to win bronze as simply staying on the bar gave athletes a good chance at a medal.
In unusual scenes, Cyprus’ Marios Georgiou, Japan’s Takaaki Sugino, China’s Su Weide and Boheng all hit the deck as they tried to land.
Croatia’s Tin Srbic knew he would be in with a chance of a medal if he completed a steady routine.
But he was unable to do so as he surprisingly lost grip twice and smacked the mat in a painful-looking fall.
Fans were left in shock at the amount of tumbles, with one saying: “Gymnastics is broken today.”
Another added: “This arena is cursed.”
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And a third reacted: “High bar is also an episode of Survivor at this point.”
BBC commentator Craig Heap was left just as startled, saying: “I don’t believe it – what are we seeing in this high bar final?”
Oka won gold with a score of 14.533, which would have only earned him bronze at the previous Games in Tokyo.
But it was not just the men having difficulty today at the Olympics.
USA legend Simone Biles was furious after she hit the deck in the beam final to miss out on a medal.
The 27-year-old followed US team-mate Suni Lee and two others to slip off the beam.
What’s happening today at The Games?
WHAT TO WATCH TODAY
TODAY’S BRIT MEDAL HOPES
Keely Hodgkinson is among the favourites to win gold in the women’s 800m final (8.45pm), three years on from silver in Tokyo.
Kimberley Woods, Mallory Franklin and Joe Clarke could secure a triple-header in the maiden Olympic kayak cross finals (3.55pm).
GB will hope to retain their triathlon mixed relay (7am) and the women’s cycling team sprint (6.55pm) offers a real medal chance on the opening day in the velodrome.
BRITS TO WATCH
The sport climbing gets underway with four Brits – Hamish McArthur and 19-year-old sensation Toby Roberts starting with their bouldering in the boulder and lead event (9am).
And the women’s hockey team face a nightmare quarter-final against the all-conquering Dutch (4.30pm).
GLOBAL STARS TODAY
Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis will try and break his own latest world record once again in the men’s paul vault final (6pm).
The men’s football reaches the semi-finals with hosts France facing Egypt (8pm) after Spain vs Morocco (5pm).
And this will be the last we see of Simone Biles in Paris. She is set to go in the women’s balance beam (11.30am) and floor finals (1.20pm).
FANCY SOMETHING DIFFERENT?
It is the final day for both the 3×3 basketball and the surfing.
The 3×3 basketball finishes with the gold medal matches from 9pm at La Concorde.
Over in Tahiti, Gabriel Medina appeared to defy gravity with THAT incredible levitating photo and has a shot at gold today.
STATS MAD
0 – A rule change to the artistic swimming (formerly synchronised swimming) means men are now able to compete in the team event for the first time in Olympics history… but the new legislation only came in 18 months and precisely ZERO males were selected.
Follow all the action as it unfolds with our Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE blog.
