The greatest male gymnast in history gave up hope of competing in the two biggest finals of what could be his last Olympics, and a home Games at that, 13 months before the Opening Ceremony. Will he make it to the Tokyo Games at all?
Japan’s Kohei Uchimura, who won all eight Olympic and world all-around titles from 2009-16, fought injuries every year of this Olympic cycle and missed the world championships last year for the first time since 2007.
Even with the Tokyo Games postponed to 2021, the soft-spoken king is already saying his best chance to compete will be to focus on one apparatus — high bar — rather than attempting the all-around to make the four-gymnast Japanese roster for the team event.