Spectacular Kohei Uchimura fall caps day of errors for gymnastics favourites Japan

Dethroning champions China has been the number one target for Japan at the Rio Olympics but after a day of falls and botched landings in men’s qualifying on Saturday, Kohei Uchimura and his team mates were left with sore bodies and bruised egos.

Uchimura suffered the most spectacular of falls from the horizontal bar – an apparatus on which he is the reigning world champion – as he lost his grip following a release and catch manoeuvre and produced a deafening thud as he landed on his back.

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Despite glaring errors on every apparatus barring the floor exercise, Japan’s collective score of 269.294 was enough to see them top the first sub division in qualifying ahead of jubilant hosts Brazil – who were fielding a full team in the men’s Olympic competition for the first time.

However, Uchimura lost his chance to be in the running for the horizontal bar gold as his score of 14.300 left him well outside the top eight scores needed to reach the apparatus final.

That mishap did not stop the Japanese heartthrob from leading the standings for the all-around final, where he will be bidding to become the first gymnast since compatriot Sawao Kato in 1972 to win successive Olympic titles in the event that tests skills across six apparatus.