Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai (李智凱) finished 5th in the men’s pommel horse final at the Nagoya Asian Games on the 24th.
He completed his routine and landed steadily, but small execution flaws remained in a performance aimed at winning a medal.
The result shows the challenge he continues to face amid a changed scoring environment, rather than being attributable to a single mistake.
3-Line Summary
1. Lee Chih-kai finished 5th in the pommel horse final
2. His difficulty score was 5.7 points, and his total score was 14.333 points
3. Execution quality, rather than a third victory, proved decisive
14.333 Points: Pommel Horse Final Falls Short of Medal Contention
Lee Chih-kai finished 5th in the men’s pommel horse final in artistic gymnastics at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, receiving a difficulty score of 5.7 points and an execution score of 8.633 points for a total of 14.333 points. He did not reach the podium. Uzbekistan’s Utkirbek Juraev won the gold medal, Iran’s Arman Khodaei Valezgar received the silver, and Japan’s Daiki Hashimoto took the bronze.
He completed the entire routine and landed steadily, showing confidence in the quality of his signature Thomas flairs. However, there was a small flaw in a rotation performed with his legs together, and he said that this part did not come out as expected. According to Yahoo Sports, Lee revised his plan to increase the difficulty by 0.1 points during the competition and chose instead to correct the movement.
After the result was confirmed, he shed tears of regret over coming one step short of the medal he had targeted. He viewed it positively that he had challenged himself to perform the routine he intended rather than backing down under the pressure during the routine, but cited his failure to seize the opportunity as the most disappointing aspect.
A Changed Routine More Difficult Than a ‘Third Victory’
According to Liberty Times Sports, Lee Chih-kai won the pommel horse title at the Hangzhou Asian Games 2 times in a row and challenged for a third consecutive title at this event. However, following changes to the International Gymnastics Federation’s scoring criteria, the number of Thomas flairs that could be included in one set was limited to a maximum of 4. Because the rest of the routine had to be filled with circles with the legs together or combinations of new skills, this became a major challenge for him over the past 2 years.
This final was also decided by that very skill. In a format where he could not carry the routine through solely on his mastery of the Thomas flairs, the quality of the circles with his legs together became the key to the medal competition. Thus, 14.333 points were not simply the result of a landing or a major mistake, but a score revealing how important the precision of a single skill required in the new routine had become.
Lee Chih-kai has completed his Asian Games schedule and is set to compete at the world gymnastics championships next month. However, he said that he would need to discuss his future direction and plans with his coach, and he has not decided whether to attempt the Asian Games again 4 years from now. Rather than interpreting this defeat immediately as a retirement or a declaration of another attempt, it is more accurate to view it as a statement that improvements to his routine in line with the scoring changes remain necessary.
References
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