Nobody was surprised when a Japanese gymnast named Kohei made it through to the men's apparatus finals. The shock was that it wasn't former Olympic champion "King" Kohei Uchimura but a pommel horse specialist making his Olympic debut at 32.
Uchimura, taking part in his fourth Olympics, saw his distinguished Olympic career come to an abrupt end when he lost his grip on the horizontal bar during qualifying rounds on Sunday and crashed to the floor.
But Kohei Kameyama, who turns 33 later this year, made it through on pommel horse tied in second place in qualifiers — outstripping Daiki Hashimoto, who later won men's all-around — the culmination of a long journey that included battling despair and nearly quitting.
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