Day 1 of the gymnastics competition was highlighted by excellent overall performances by China and the United States and host nation Brazil putting on a show for the home crowd.
Subdivision 1: Japan commit many errors, edge out stellar Brazil by just over one point
The first subdivision was made up of Japan, Brazil, Netherlands and South Korea. On the floor exercise, reigning world champion Kohei Uchimura posted the highest score with a 15.533, followed closely behind by Diego Hypolito of 15.500. Shaping up as a two-team duel, the pommel horse saw Uchimura again topped the scoring charts with a 14.966. Sergio Sasaki was second-highest with a 14.833. Again, the Koreans and Dutch were well back. The still rings saw Arthur Zanetti score the highest with a 15.533 while the Dutchman Yuri van Gelder was only just behind at 15.333. Kenzo Shirai was tops on vault at 15.466 while Sasaki was close behind at 15.266. Japan was dominant on the parallel bars, teammates Ryohei Kato and Uchimura going one-two with scores of 15.500 and 15.466, respectively. Epke Sonderland gave the Dutch their lone highlight, winning the high bar with a score of 15.366 while Francesco Barreto gave the home fans another thrill with a 15.266. Also notable is Uchimura falling, leaving him out of the individual event final on the apparatus.
Subdivision 2: United States struggle on pommel horse, but shine everywhere else to top group, Brits finish second
The second subdivision consisted of the United States, Great Britain, Germany and France. The Americans and Brits were expected to far outpace the Germans and the French and on floor exercise, the top three were separated by just three hundredths of a point. US teammates Sam Mikulak and Jake Dalton scored 15.800 and 15.600 respectivelly while Max Whitlock received a 15.500. Whitlock and British teammate Louis Smith dominated the pommel horse with scores of 15.800 and 15.700. Cyril Tommasone of France checked in with 15.650, the best individual score on an apparatus for either the French and Germans. Samir Ait Said was the high man on the still rings, posting a fine 15.333, but he suffered a horrific leg break on a vault attempt and is unfortunately out of the Olympics.
Only Alex Naddour of the US scored 15 or higher outside of Said. Fabian Hambuchen edged out Dalton, Mikulak and Naddour on the vault. The German scored 15.166 while the American trio psoted 15.133, 15.100 and 15.100 respectively. Danell Leyva and Marcel Nguyen ran away with the parallel bars, the American pipping the German 15.600 to 15.466, two of the finest in the world starring. Hambuchen scraped by Brit Nile Wilson 15.533 to 15.500 on the high bar while Leyva and Mikulak checked in with 15.333 and 15.133. Overall, the Americans and Brits look solid heading into the team competition, with France and Germany left to hope for medals in indivdiual events.
Subdivision 3: China takes advantage of Japan's mistakes to post highest overall score
China, aware of the door being left open by the Japanese, took full advantage, in a subdivision with Russia, Switzerland and Ukraine. On the floor exercise, Benjamin Gischard edged Deng Shudi 15.066 for the Swiss to 15.033 to the Chinese. The pommel horse saw Ukranian Oleg Verniaiev blow away the field with a 15.566 easily beating out Lin Chaopan, his 15.033 the only other score higher than 15 on this apparatus for this group. The Chinese once again dominated on still rings, Liu Yang and You Hao receiving 15.900 and 15.800. Ihor Radivilov narrowly bested Denia Ablayzin on vault, the Ukranian's 15.433 to the Russian's 15.400. Verniaiev won his second apparatus in qualfiying with a brilliant 16.166 on the parallel bars, the best score of the night. Vernaiev also took the high bar with a score of 15.133, Switzerland's Pablo Bragger came in second with a 15.100. Overall, China was the best, but Verniaiev led Ukraine to a solid second place finish.
Qualified teams
The top eight teams into the team final were as follows:
1. China
2. United States
3. Russia
4. Japan
5. Great Britain
6. Brazil
7. Ukraine
8. Germany