Olympics-Gymnastics-China's Zou, 'king of parallel bars', retains title

By Chang-Ran Kim

PARIS (Reuters) -China's Zou Jingyuan handily beat his rivals to retain the Olympic parallel bars title on Monday, picking up his third medal of the Paris Games and giving his country a second gold in gymnastics.

The 26-year-old, nicknamed 'king of parallel bars' for his dominance on the apparatus, earned a staggering 16.200 points, head and shoulders above the rest.

"I'm super excited for this result, because coming to these Olympics, I had injuries," he said. "I didn't really practise that much. But I went through my routine over and over again in my head, so many times.

"I had pain in my body, but coming here and seeing all the crowd supporting us has helped me a lot. It made me feel better."

Illia Kovtun took silver with 15.500, earning Ukraine their first podium finish in the sport in Paris. Japan's Shinnosuke Oka, who won gold in the team and all-around events, took the bronze with 15.300.

Zhou maintained poise, precision and momentum throughout his performance and drew deafening cheers from the crowd as he executed a straddle front somersault.

As he continued his masterful routine, Zou kept his arms and legs fully extended and steady as a rock and he was applauded by Kovtun every time he nailed a difficult move.

After sticking his dismount, the three-times parallel bars world champion pumped his arms in the air, smiling broadly and embracing his teammate Zhang Boheng, who came in fourth.

Kovtun, who will walk away from Paris with Ukraine's only medal in the sport, expressed disbelief and joy at his second-place finish.

"I am very, very happy," the 20-year-old said. "It was my last chance to win a medal and I got it.

"I didn't expect this to happen. I still haven't realised what I have achieved. I'm very proud of myself and being able to win this medal for my country, Ukraine."

Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko congratulated the gymnast on X, writing: "Another addition to the Ukrainian Olympic treasury! ... Thank you for your skill and craft! We wish you new victories."

Later on Monday, Japan's Oka picked up his third gold medal of the Paris Games in the horizontal bar.

(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim, Rory Carroll, Karen Braun and Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber, editing by Pritha Sarkar)