Gold medallist's Artur Dalaloyan of the Russian Olympic Committee, David Belyavskiy of the Russian Olympic Committee, Denis Abliazin of the Russian Olympic Committee and Nikita Nagornyy of the Russian Olympic Committee celebrate on the podium. Credit: Reuters Photo

The Russian team claimed gold in the men's artistic gymnastics team final 

Russian men edge out Japan & China in Olympic thriller to scoop all-round artistic gymnastics title in Tokyo

By Edward Era Barbacena

The Russians, competing under a neutral banner in Tokyo due to their doping suspension, last won the coveted men's team title in 1996.

The Russian men’s artistic gymnastics team picked up their country’s third gold medal of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, winning Monday’s tightly-contested final ahead of Japan and China.

NikitaNagornyy led the Russia's team to the coveted men's artistic gymnastics gold at the Tokyo Olympics  to add to their world title, with Japan taking silver  and China bronze 

The 2019 world champions, the Russian team of Denis Ablyazin, David Belyavskiy, Artur Dalaloyan and Nikita Nagornyy ended with a score of 262.500 points – a fraction in front of the Japanese team, who finished with 262.397.

China claimed bronze with a total of 261.894 at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre.   

The result means the Russian men's team go one better than their silver medal last time round at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

It's also the first time since the 1996 Games in Atlanta that Russia have won the event

Earlier on Monday, Russian fencer Sofia Pozdniakova had defeated countrywoman Sofya Velikaya in their individual sabre final, sparking a gold rush for the nation.    

Not long after the men's gymnastic success, Russian taekwondo competitor Maksim Khramtsov won his 80kg final, bringing further gold to the medal count. 

At the time of writing, Russia have four gold, five silver, and three bronze medals, enough to put them fourth in the overall table behind Japan, the USA and China.

Russia are competing under the banner of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) at this year's Games due to a ban imposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).