Great Britain missed out on a medal in the Olympic men’s team gymnastics despite strong performances in Paris. In a thrilling final, Japan edged out China for gold in a dramatic finish.
The GB team, consisting of Max Whitlock, Jake Jarman, Joe Fraser, Luke Whitehouse, and Harry Hepworth—who had qualified in third place—finished fourth. China lost a comfortable lead when Su Weide fell off the high bar twice during the final rotation.
There were high hopes for Great Britain to secure their second men’s team Olympic medal, following a bronze at London 2012, after their impressive performance in Saturday’s qualification round.
While the team carried momentum into Monday’s final, a problematic vault landing by Whitehouse was costly. The real difference, however, was the significant improvement by the United States compared to their qualifying round.
Great Britain has now finished fourth in this event three times in a row.
“Right now, it feels quite raw but overall we can be quite proud,” Whitlock said.
“Looking at every performance we’ve done, we did everything we possibly could. Fourth is still a high position in the world and we can take a lot of positivity from that.”
Pre-event expectations anticipated a gold-medal showdown between China and Japan, but not in the way it unfolded.
Daiki Hashimoto’s poor pommel horse routine, a disappointment for the Tokyo 2020 all-around champion, initially derailed Japan’s challenge as China built a comfortable lead.
However, Hashimoto rallied with an exceptional high bar routine and capitalized on Su Weide’s significant errors, securing gold for Japan by a narrow margin of just 0.532 points.
Great Britain remained consistent throughout, delivering encouraging performances—especially Max Whitlock’s improved pommel horse routine—which suggest they may still contend for medals in the individual finals.
Whitlock, 31, competing in his fourth and final Games, aims to add to his six Olympic medals. He will vie for a third consecutive pommel horse gold on Saturday and could become the first gymnast to win medals on the same apparatus at four successive Games.
His teammates also have opportunities for individual medals, with Jake Jarman advancing to the all-around, floor, and vault finals. Joe Fraser will join him in Wednesday’s all-around final, while Harry Hepworth will compete in the vault and rings finals, and Luke Whitehouse will be in the floor final.
This marks the first time Great Britain’s men have secured six spots in individual apparatus finals at an Olympics.
“We’ve made history from the number of finals we’ve made in qualifications and now we can try and move forward, take confidence from today and hopefully finals can go to plan,” Whitlock said.
Great Britain’s women will compete in their team final on Tuesday, with American Simone Biles aiming to lead her team to gold after a stunning performance in qualifying upon her Olympic return.