Gymnast Daiki Hashimoto of Japan extended his world all-around title. The Japanese scored 86.132 points in Antwerp, ahead of Ukrainian Ilya Kovtun (84.998). American Frederick Richard won bronze (84.332). Dutch gymnast Casimir Schmidt ranked seventeenth with 80.299 points.
For the residents of Hoofddorp, participating in the final was a bonus. In the Belgian city, Schmidt focused mainly on securing a ticket to the Olympic team with the Dutch national team. By finishing eleventh in the qualifiers, the team achieved this goal. In the all-around final, Schmidt started strong on vault (14.300). It then continued through the device without any major errors, including an extreme error on the ground (14,000). Only on the last device, the loops, did Schmidt fall during the descent.
Hashimoto, the Olympic all-around champion, did not even qualify for the final. In qualifications he finished below fellow Japanese Kenta Chiba and Kazuma Kaya. A maximum of two gymnasts from each country are allowed to go to the final. Japanese coach Hiroaki Sato had previously hinted after qualifying that Hashimoto would replace one of his fellow gymnasts in the final. Kaya was eventually passed over for the finals.
Schmidt competed in the third World All-Around Final of his career in Antwerp. Ten years ago, during his debut at the World Championships in Antwerp, he reached the final battle for the first time with the top 24 gymnasts. Last year, in Liverpool, he reached his second World Cup final.
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