'World's Best Gymnast' Scores an Epic Win

Uchimura finished less than 0.1 ahead of Ukrainian rival
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 10, 2016 11:00 PM CDT
'World's Best Gymnast' Scores Epic Win
Ukraine's Oleg Verniaiev performs on the horizontal bar during the artistic gymnastics men's individual all-around final.   (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Japan's Kohei Uchimura, widely considered the greatest men's gymnast in history, won the gold medal over Ukraine's Oleg Verniaiev by less than one-tenth of a point Wednesday night. Their two-hour duel provided the closest call in Uchimura's run of two Olympic crowns and six world all-around championships, the AP reports. "There's only the tiniest gap, a 0.1 gap," said Uchimura, who finished with 92.365 to Verniaiev's 92.266 but was behind by nearly a point entering the final rotation. "I really have no confidence, I should say, that I can beat Oleg." The win makes Uchimura, who scored a silver in 2008, the first gymnast in 44 years to pick up back-to-back all-around Olympic titles, reports Reuters. (More 2016 Olympics stories.)

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