Gymnastics-Japan's Hashimoto clinches third straight world all-around title
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Artistic Gymnastics - 2025 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships - Mens Artistic Gymnastics - All-Around Final - Indonesia Arena, Jakarta, Indonesia - October 22, 2025 Japan's Daiki Hashimoto celebrates with the Japan flag after winning the All-Around Final REUTERS/Issei Kato
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JAKARTA - Japan's Daiki Hashimoto captured his third consecutive men's individual all-around crown at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships on Wednesday, a distinction previously accomplished only by his compatriot Kohei Uchimura.
The 24-year-old tallied 85.131 points to edge out China's Zhang Boheng, who took silver with 84.333, while Switzerland's Noe Seifert claimed a surprise bronze on 82.831.
"I'm really happy to have won the World Championships, especially because I couldn't win the individual gold medal in the Paris Olympic Games last year," Hashimoto told reporters.
Hashimoto, who claimed gold at the Tokyo Games and world titles in 2022 and 2023, returned to form in the Indonesian capital after a disappointing sixth-place finish at last year's Paris Games, when a finger injury hampered his performance.
Hashimoto said the setback of missing the podium in Paris eased the weight of comparisons with Uchimura, who won six consecutive world titles between 2009 and 2015.
"I think of Uchimura as superhuman (and) I want to do something that is superhuman too," he said. "Being able to compete for (his record) is one of the greatest joys of my life."
The final produced a tense showdown between Hashimoto, Japan's reigning Olympic champion Shinnosuke Oka and Olympics silver medallist Zhang. The three traded places throughout the evening, separated by fractions on the scoreboard.
"It was a very tough and close battle until the very end, but I trusted myself and was able to stay focused on my performance," Hashimoto said.
"I think that belief in myself led to the final result, and when I nailed the high bar at the end, it felt amazing."
Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, denied visas to Israeli gymnasts earlier this month amid an outcry over Israel's military offensive in Gaza, barring them from competing at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Jakarta.
The International Olympic Committee urged international sports federations not to host any sports events in Indonesia after their ban on Israeli Gymnasts. REUTERS
