Ο Lefteris Petrounias will hunt in the Tokyo a feat that no one else Olympic champion of hoops has not succeeded in almost half a century, proving that it is built to break records. His potential victory in next Monday's (02/08) final will make him one of the all-time winners in the sport's Olympic history, and in unique with two consecutive titles since 1972!
To date, in the entire history of the Olympic Games, only two legendary athletes have won two gold medals in the rings: Armenia's Albert Azarian, who won representing the Soviet Union in 1956 and 1960, and Japan's Akinori Nakayama, triumphant at the 1968 and 1972 Games.
Alongside them, the Greek ’lord of the rings« will seek to add his own name to the list, claiming a similar »repit« at the Ariake stadium in the Japanese capital.
Indicative of the enormous difficulty of the task is also the fact that in the last 40 years only three athletes, in different individual events of men's gymnastics, have successfully defended their Olympic title: Spain's Hervacio Defer in vault (Olympic champion 2000 & 2004), China's Kai Zou in floor exercise (2008 & 2012) and Japan's «King» Koji Uchimura in the combined individual (2012 & 2016).
Of all the «gold» Olympic medallists of Rio, Lefteris Petrounias and Britain's Max Whitlock on the flat horse are the only ones who will be present at the finals of their events in Tokyo, with the prospect of joining this ’club« of the elite if they win again.
The 30-year-old rings specialist will have an additional motivation to stay on top: «I aim to become an Olympic gold medalist for the second time in a row. It's not easy in gymnastics, but it's not easy in gymnastics. I have my children on my mind. It will be great to make history here and have something to show my babies when they grow up,» was his statement hosted by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) after his impressive performance in the qualification, where he topped the podium with 15.333 points.
The final of the rings will take place on Monday, August 2 (11:00 - 11:35 GMT) and based on the draw, Lefteris Petrounias will perform his program 7th among the eight finalists.
The Greek champion's opponents will be, in order of appearance in the final, the Brazilian Artur Zanetti (5th with 14,900 b. in the qualification), the Chinese Hao Yow (8th with 14,800 b.), the Chinese Yang Liu (2nd with 15,300 b.), Russia's Denis Ablyazin (7th with 14,800), Turkey's Ibrahim Cholak (4th with 14,933), France's Samir Ait Said (3rd with 15,066) and Turkey's Adem Asil (6th with 14,800), who will be the last to go on the rings, just after Petrounias.
