TOKYO — Nearly everyone in the gymnastics arena — other gymnasts, coaches, arena workers and reporters — stopped what they were doing on Saturday to watch Kohei Uchimura of Japan, considered one of the best male gymnasts ever, perform his horizontal bar routine.
At the start of his fourth Olympics, Uchimura, one of the most revered and beloved athletes in Japan, swung around the high bar and soared over it in his usual daring and dazzling way. But then his hands slipped during a fast — maybe too fast — pirouette requiring intricate handwork, and spectators gasped.