I almost lost faith, says Japan's Hashimoto after snatching gymnastics team gold

PARIS: Japan's reigning Olympic all-around gymnastics champion Daiki Hashimoto had been on an emotional roller-coaster for months.

Back in May, injury had forced him to suddenly pull out of the NHK Trophy - the sport's marquee tournament in Japan - that he hoped would be his chance to dress-rehearse his routines ahead of the Paris Games.

Still nursing a far-from-healed finger injury, he joined other Olympic-bound athletes at the team's training camp even though he wondered whether he would be able to lead the five-man team to the gold medal that his nation expected.

"To be honest, I was starting to lose confidence," Hashimoto told reporters on Monday. "When the camp ended, I still couldn't visualise how I was going to win that gold."

That sense of doubt seemed to have disappeared two days ago when Hashimoto stepped into the Bercy Arena in Paris, beaming and waving to the adoring fans.

But the confidence was short-lived.

On the high bar, Hashimoto botched his dismount by landing on his hands and feet, dashing his chance of reaching the final to defend the title in the apparatus.

"I became a drag on the team and that felt really heavy again," he said.

Japan had been hoping to top the qualifying standings to underline their title credentials but they had to settle for second place behind China.

Through the difficult moments, it was his teammates' unwavering determination and constant encouragement that carried him through, Hashimoto said.

"Every time I opened the doors to the training grounds, all of them would talk about how they wanted to win the gold medal. Seeing that, I really felt from the bottom of my heart that I wanted to fight for this team."

On Monday, with that medal at stake, Hashimoto needed one more lift from his