Zou Jingyuan Defends Olympic Parallel Bars Title with Near-Perfect Performance

Zou Jingyuan of China achieved near-perfection to defend his Olympic parallel bars title in Paris. This marks his third medal in Paris, following a silver in the team event and rings. Zou's score of 16.200, the highest in artistic gymnastics at these Games, earned him gold ahead of Ukraine’s Illia Kovtun and Japan’s Shinnosuke Oka.

Zou Jingyuan of China was close to perfection Monday, defending his Olympic title in parallel bars on the final day of artistic gymnastics at the Paris Games.

It marked Zou's third medal in Paris, following a team event silver and another silver in rings. Zou's flawless routine earned him a score of 16.200, the highest in artistic gymnastics at these Games, which secured his gold ahead of Ukraine's Illia Kovtun and Japan's Shinnosuke Oka.

This victory makes Zou the first man to defend his Olympic title on parallel bars since Japan's Sawao Kato in 1976. Another final gold medal was to be decided later on Monday on the horizontal bar, giving China another opportunity to add to their tally.