BBC viewers have called for investigation following a dramatic men’s high bar final that saw a number of gymnasts fall. In what proved a bizarre competition, only two athletes managed to avoid coming off the bar, with Japan’s Shinnosuke Oka winning gold.
Colombia’s Angel Barajas took silver, while Zhang Boheng of China overcame a stumble to take bronze.
Oka’s winning score of 14.533 would only have been enough for third place in Tokyo three years ago, and during the final, fans were left questioning the apparatus used.
@DrMeowMeowJr wrote on X: “They need to investigate something is going on with that high bar because there’s no way people are falling.” @bctoniii added: “There’s surely something off with the equipment on the high bar. Why is this not being enquired?”
@Pinklilycat echoed similar sentiments, writing: “I think the equipment needs checking. This men’s high bar has been a disaster.” @LoLoByke went a step further, posting:”We need to investigate these bars. First the beam for the women and now the high bar for the men?”
The reference to the women followed similar chaos in the beam final on Monday morning. Simone Biles was one of a number of gymnasts to slip during her routine, scuppering her hopes of a fourth gold medal in Paris.
On BBC, Beth Tweddle suggested that gymnasts would have been making alterations to their planned routines as they watched the chaos unfold. But fellow pundit Christine Still was at a loss when trying to explain the errors.
“When you are up first you’ve got to go all out with the difficulty,” said Tweddle. “But if you’re getting towards the end of the field of play, and you’re seeing scores are quite low, actually gymnasts drop their difficulty.”
She added: “It’s maybe the tension of the wires of the bar, if they’re a little bit tight it can cause falls. But the gymnasts have had plenty of time to warm up and the coaches have tension gauges to see what the tension is. It’s very unusual and bizarre.”
The high number of falls meant the final lasted longer than envisaged, as officials scrambled to clean up afterwards. And it meant frustration for Biles and co. with the start of the women’s final delayed as a result.
Not that Oka was complaining. Having already helped Japan win gold in the team final, and taken the individual all-around title, he followed up bronze on the parallel bars earlier this morning with a fourth medal in Paris.
