Japanese star Daiki Hashimoto becomes the 2nd men’s gymnast to win 3 world all-around titles

By Canadian Press on October 22, 2025.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Daiki Hashimoto is back on top in men’s gymnastics.

The Japanese superstar bounced back from a disappointing sixth-place finish at the Paris Olympics to earn his third all-around title at the world championships on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old Hashimoto used superb performances on floor exercise, vault and high bar to post a total of 85.131 to outduel runner-up Zhang Boheng of China at 84.333. Noe Seifert of Switzerland earned the bronze with a score of 82.831.

Hashimoto, the 2020 Olympic champion and the gold medalist at the world championships in 2022 and 2023, saw his hopes of earning Olympic gold last summer vanish when he fell off the pommel horse, sending him well off the podium while teammate Shinnosuke Oka pulled off a somewhat surprising victory.

This time, it was Oka who dealt with disappointment. The Olympic champion arrived at worlds battling injuries and an illness. He was a distant 12th during qualifying thanks to a nightmarish and error-filled floor routine. Oka recovered somewhat in the finals to finish fifth but was again undone by another spotty performance on floor.

There were no such concerns for Hashimoto. Dubbed Japan’s next great hope following two-time Olympic champion and 21-time world championship medalist Kohei Uchimura’s retirement, Hashimoto has more than fulfilled his promise.

Hashimoto’s three world all-around titles place him second all-time behind the six that the peerless Uchimura earned between 2009 and 2015.

Boheng, who edged Hashimoto at worlds in 2021, added a fifth world championship medal but couldn’t quite chase down Hashimoto, who took this chapter of a rivalry that figures to run all the way to the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Hashimoto posted the top scores on three events in the 24-man final and finished no worse than third in the three others to leave little doubt that when he is at his best, he remains the best in the world by a significant if not always sizable margin.

Seifert’s bronze medal was the first by a Swiss gymnast in the all-around at worlds since 1950.

The men’s competition picks back up Friday when event finals begin. The women’s all-around finals are Thursday, where Angelina Melnikova of Russia will try to cap her return to major international competition by bookending the all-around title she won at the 2021 world championships.

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

The Associated Press

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