TOKYO — Nearly everyone in the gymnastics arena at the Games — other gymnasts, coaches, arena workers and reporters — stopped what they were doing on Saturday to watch Kohei Uchimura of Japan, considered one of the best male gymnasts ever, perform his high bar routine.
At the start of his fourth Olympics, Uchimura, one of the most revered athletes in Japan, swung around the bar and soared over it in his usual daring and dazzling way. But then his hands slipped during a fast — maybe too fast — pirouette requiring intricate handwork, and spectators gasped.