Kohei Uchimura of Japan repeated as the men’s all-around winner on Wednesday night, barely edging Oleg Verniaiev of Ukraine by less than a tenth of a point to become the first man to win back-to-back all-around titles in 44 years.
Two nights after leading Japan to a team gold, Uchimura trailed going into the final rotation on the high bar. Uchimura, the six-time world champion, put on a spectacular show with four difficult release moves that earned him a dazzling 15.8.
Verniaiev, knowing he needed a 14.9 to win, took a slightly different approach in hopes of winning Ukraine’s first ever all-around Olympic gold in the sport: an easier, less risky routine.