Japan won Olympic men’s artistic team gold at the 2004 Athens Games.
Japan’s six-man team finished first in the team all-around final with 173.821 points. The gold-medal lineup included Takehiro Kashima, Hisashi Mizutori, Daisuke Nakano, Hiroyuki Tomita, Naoya Tsukahara and Isao Yoneda. The United States took silver, while Romania won bronze.
The victory was historically important for Japanese men’s gymnastics. Japan had dominated the event during the sport’s postwar golden age, winning five consecutive Olympic team titles from 1960 through 1976. The 2004 triumph returned the nation to the top after a long Olympic wait and helped mark a revival of its traditional team strength.
The result is sometimes mixed up with the controversial men’s individual all-around competition at the same Games, which was won by American Paul Hamm after a disputed judging episode. The team final was a separate event, and Japan’s victory there was not changed by that controversy.