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 teammates.
In an error that drew a collective gasp from the arena, Hashimoto fell off the pommel horse, setting Japan back against a formidable Chinese side. In fact Hashimoto’s lowly score of 13.100 left his country trailing in fifth place at the halfway point of the final.
“The moment I fell I thought to myself, ‘Oh no, we’re going to lose the gold again because of me’,” said Hashimoto, who was part of the Japanese team that finished second behind Russia at the Tokyo Games.
“But when I finished, (teammates Takaaki) Sugino and (Kazuma) Kaya said to me, ‘Don’t give up. We can still do it.'”