Three-time Olympic champion Oka headlines artistic gymnastics

ESSEN - Fresh from winning gold at the 2025 Asian championships, the 2024 Olympic all-around champion Shinnosuke Oka (JPN) is looking to continue his winning ways at the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games.

Oka placed first in the all-around and led the Japanese team to gold at the Asian championships last month, showing impeccable form ahead of his first international competition since Paris 2024.

Almost a year to the day since winning Olympic gold in France, Oka is the favourite for multiple titles in Essen.

The 21-year-old cemented his place in Japanese gymnastics history by winning gold at Paris 2024 in the all-around, horizontal bar, and team event. He also grabbed bronze on the parallel bars. Oka became the first Japanese male gymnast since Sawao Kato, in 1968 and 1972, to win three golds at a single Olympic Games, and Japan’s fourth consecutive Olympic gold medallist in men's all-around.

While the FISU World University Games are an important step towards the 2025 world championships in Jakarta, Indonesia, and eventually the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, Oka knows the pressure is on him in Germany.

“With good results, expectations and pressure increase,” Oka said at Paris 2024.

After his landmark achievement in France, he told the Japanese gymnastics federation:

“I aim to keep performing at my best and become a consistent winner. My desire to win hasn’t changed. But since the Olympics, I’m no longer the underdog. I always feel tremendous pressure.”

Rivalry with Hashimoto

Oka is not the only Olympic champion competing at the FISU World University Games. He is joined by teammate Daiki Hashimoto (JPN), who was part of the Japanese gold medal-winning team in Paris and won the Olympic all-around title at Tokyo 2020.

Hashimoto returns to the FISU World University stage having been part of Japan’s silver medal-winning squad in Chengdu two years ago.

Oka and Hashimoto are joined by Tomoharu Tsunogai (JPN), winner of three gold medals at the 2023 junior world championships. Japan will compete for team gold with a with a new-look Chinese squad, which is hungry to retain the title their counterparts won in 2023.

Pan American Games champion Felix Dolci (CAN), three-time European floor exercise gold medallist Luke Whitehouse (GBR) and European pommel horse champion Hamlet Manukyan (ARM) are among the other stars in the men’s competition. Nazar Chepurnyi (UKR) is the only returning men’s gold medallist from the Chengdu 2021 FISU Games, where he won gold on vault.

In the women’s competition, China is looking to top the medal table once again after winning all but one title in Chengdu.

Fanyuwei Yang (CHN) leads the team in Essen. They will be challenged by Japan, with 2021 world balance beam champion Urara Ashikawa (JPN) and Olympian Mana Okamura (JPN) among their headliners. Shoko Miyata (JPN), the reigning FISU World University Games champion on vault, is the only returning women’s gold medallist.

The 2022 European balance beam champion Emma Malewski (GER) is one of the home stars looking for success. Others to watch include Olympians Kate McDonald (AUS), Jana Hany Ismail Mahmoud (EGY), Zsófia Kovács (HUN), Zója Székely (HUN), Yunseo Lee (KOR), Solyi Shin (KOR), Dohyun Eom (KOR) and Hua-Tien Ting (TPE).

Artistic gymnastics competition takes place at Messe Essen Halle 3 from 22 to 26 July, with medals to be awarded in the team event as well as the individual all-around and apparatus finals.

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