With "King" Kohei Uchimura having stepped down there will be a new Olympic all-around men's gymnastics champion crowned at the Tokyo Games on Wednesday, with Russia, Japan and China set for a royal rumble to decide who claims the sport's most prized title.
Olympic all-around champion in 2012 and 2016, Uchimura chose not to defend his title in Tokyo leaving Japan's hopes resting with his young heir apparent, 19-year-old Daiki Hashimoto, who underscored his credentials by posting the top marks in Saturday's qualification round.
But Russia, competing in Tokyo as representatives of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) because the country was stripped of its flag and anthem for doping offences, will send out the lethal one-two combination of Nikita Nagornyy and Artur Dalaloyan, world all-around champions in 2019 and 2018 respectively, as the country bids to return to the top of the podium for the first time since the great Alexei Nemov at the 2000 Sydney Games.
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