can anyone beat Kohei?

Max is hitting. Oleg is hitting. Manrique is rapidly improving.

Click PLAY or watch Kohei’s (not perfect) AA on YouTube. (6 apparatus)

Sooner or later someone will defeat Kohei in the AA. I’d say Uchimura is the man to beat in Rio. But the contenders may be within one fall of him at this point.

At age 27, Kohei is not sticking as consistently as he has in the past.

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Rick Mc

Career gymnastics coach who loves the outdoors, and the internet.

3 thoughts on “can anyone beat Kohei?”

  1. I think this might be the last year Kohei will be able to beat everyone while not being perfect. But I think he’s going to really need to be as perfect as he can to guarantee a win. There’s just too much competition waiting in the wings that can overtake him if he falls or makes multiple mistakes. But I find this super exciting. The AA competition in Rio for the men is going to be wonderful, especially if everyone hits. I expect Kohei to switch to more a specialist roll (floor, pbars, high bar) next quad so he can try to make it to Tokyo in 2020. I don’t think he can remain as competitive as he has been in the AA for another four years, but maybe he’ll prove me wrong. He is Kohei, after all.

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  2. I agree that other guys are catching up, but I also agree with Coach Rick that Kohei is the man to beat. He is just so consistent across all six apparatus. He doesn’t really have a terribly weak event, whereas all his competitors have at least one. I also think Kohei was not pleased with his performance in London 2012, so he wants to show the world why he is considered the best and has completely dominated the AA since 2009. That should give him extra motivation in Rio.

    Vernyayev always seems to have trouble on at least one apparatus. Manrique needed to improve his floor and pommels. Not sure whether he has. Whitlock is a real threat. He has two apparatus where he goes 16+ if he hits and he can score in the 15s on most others. I haven’t seen his routines from this year’s British Nationals, but his 92.7 was no doubt at least somewhat inflated. I do think Kohei needs to avoid a fall this time. If the other guys all perform cleanly, I’m not sure he can afford a fall.

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