TOKYO: Japan’s Olympic all-around gymnastics champion Daiki Hashimoto expressed confidence on Friday that he will be in top shape to defend his title in Paris, despite injuring a finger last month.
Hashimoto, who is also the two-time defending world champion, suffered a ligament injury in the middle finger of his right hand while practicing for his final competition before the upcoming Games.
Speaking at Japan’s national training base, he said that he was feeling at 60 percent fitness after resuming practice two weeks ago.
The 22-year-old is optimistic about his recovery in time for the Paris Olympics, where he aims to emulate Japanese gymnastics legend Kohei Uchimura by winning the all-around title for a second time.
“I think it’s looking good, but my finger still isn’t 100 percent, so I can’t let my guard down,” Hashimoto told reporters after training with his Japan teammates. “I’m also feeling some fatigue after practicing for the first time in a while. Hopefully, I can work through that next week and then get some good practice in at the camp the week after, just before we leave.”
Hashimoto won gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, which had been postponed due to the pandemic, defeating China’s Xiao Ruoteng and Russia’s Nikita Nagornyy. He became the youngest men’s all-around champion in Olympic history at the age of 19. Hashimoto also secured a silver medal as part of the Japan team, which finished behind champions Russia.
Japan clinched the team title at last year’s world championships in Belgium, and Hashimoto believes they are well-prepared for the Paris Games. “We all practiced today, and we were able to work on the things that our coach gave us to work on,” he said. “It was a really good practice individually and as a team with one month to go.”
