Abliazin's poor luck with Korean gymnasts continues in Tokyo

Russian Olympian Denis Abliazin reacts after winning a silver medal in the men's vault at the Tokyo Olympics, Monday. AP-Yonhap

By Kang Seung-woo

Denis Abliazin's silver-winning vaults at the 2020 Summer Olympics are worthy of attention. The three-time Russian Olympian finished second behind Korea's Shin Jea-hwan in the men's vault, Monday.

But the Russian gymnast, now with three Olympic silver medals under his belt, is becoming the unlikely focus of attention among local sports fans, as the ill-fated gymnast had to yield the top spot on the Olympic podium to Korean athletes ― including one from North Korea ― for the third-straight time.

In the final, Abliazin and Shin averaged 14.783 in the two vaults, but Shin won gold because he had the single highest vault score, with 14.833 against Abliazin's 14.800.

It was not the first time that the 28-year-old saw his hopes of claiming gold in the vault of the Summer Games dashed by Korean athletes.

At the London Olympics in 2012, Abliazin made it to the final, but he came up short, as Yang Hak-seon posted an average of16.533 against his average of 16.399.

In Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Abliazin had to walk away with another silver from the event, after being outscored, this time by Ri Se-gwang of North Korea, who put together a pair of soaring vaults to score a remarkable 15.691 on average after carrying the highest difficulty ratings. At that time, Yang had missed the 2016 Games due to a foot injury.

This year, entering the final, Abliazin saw a golden opportunity in what seemed to be his Olympic swansong as Yang had failed to reach the eight-man competition. Also, Ri had retired from gymnastics in February 2020.

However, Abliazin was held back once again by the less-heralded Shin.

Abliazin reportedly said that he was fine with three silver medals in as many final appearances, adding that there was nothing else he could have done.