Hashimoto dominates to retain gymnastics world all-around title

In Rotterdam, Japan's Daiki Hashimoto successfully defended his men's individual all-around title at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, showcasing his dominance over competitors from China and Britain. Having already won the team gold the previous day, the 25-year-old from Narita claimed his seventh world title in the Netherlands and his fourth consecutive all-around championship. Hashimoto's victory was particularly impressive, as he finished 1.799 points ahead of his closest competitor, Yang Haonan.

This significant margin marked the largest winning difference in a men's all-around event at an Olympics or worlds in 13 years. Hashimoto is seen as a fitting successor to the legendary Kohei Uchimura, who held the record for six consecutive world all-around titles between 2009 and 2015.

Initially trailing the composed Yang, Hashimoto managed to turn the tide of the competition by delivering outstanding performances on the parallel bars and horizontal bar. However, reigning Olympic champion Shinnosuke Oka faced a challenging evening. Two missed landings on vault during the fourth rotation ultimately led to his disqualification, preventing him from reaching the podium.

Russia's Arsenii Dukhno, who was just one-tenth of a point behind Hashimoto prior to the final rotation, suffered a fall on the horizontal bar, resulting in his disqualification and relegation to seventh place.

The World Championships continued with the women's individual all-around competition on Thursday.