Japan’s Kohei Uchimura — whose three-time gold medal-winning gymnastics career earned him the nickname of"king"— failed to advance past his first appearance at theTokyo Summer Olympicswhen, in a stunning error, he slipped and fell from the horizontal bar on Saturday.
Though Uchimura, 32, picked himself up and completed his routine, the mistake marred his final score and he failed to qualify.
He appeared to trip up as he spun around the bar, faster and faster, crisscrossing his hands to maintain control until he lost his grip.
“I couldn’t perform what I have practiced. That’s how I simply feel,” he told reporters afterward, audibly disappointed. “It has been so tough to get selected as a national team member. That itself was already really tough.”
“All I can think of are negative thoughts right now, but what’s done is done,” he said. “I can’t do anymore, so right now I’m starting to accept it.”
Since then, however, he has struggled with injury and opted to focus on the horizontal bar.
Speaking with the press after his fall, Uchimura praised the work of his teammates.
As for his own future, he said nothing was set.
“Let me think about it when I go back to the accommodation,” he said.
“But,” he said. “I have experienced the bottom of the bottom when I wasn’t doing well. So I am not as disappointed as I expected.”
To learn more about Team USA, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Tokyo Olympics now on NBC.
source: people.com
