TOKYO (AFP, REUTERS) – Ukraine-born Artem Dolgopyat won the men’s floor exercise on Sunday (Aug 1) for Israel’s first-ever Olympic gymnastics gold.
Dolgopyat, a two-time world silver medallist in the event, finished level on points with Spain’s Rayderley Zapata but won the tiebreak with a higher difficulty score.
China’s Xiao Ruoteng took the bronze for his third medal of the Games.
Dolgopyat, who moved from Ukraine to Tel Aviv when he was 12, won only Israel’s second ever Olympic title in any sport after Gal Friedman’s 2004 windsurfing win in Athens.
The 24-year-old came into the final as favourite by topping the qualifying standings.
After Russian team gold winner Nikita Nagornyy was marked down after over-rotating and stumbling on his trademark triple pike tumble, Zapata looked destined for the title.
But Dolgopyat turned the Spaniard’s gold into silver when his routine matched Zapata’s score of 14.933, and with their execution mark also the same, it went down to the difficulty level, with Dolgopyat taking the title by just 0.100.
