Rings, Men

The format was the same as it had been from 1984-96, with eight gymnasts advancing from the team all-around, but no more than two per nation. Hungarian Szilveszter Csollány was a rings specialist. He had won the silver medal at the 1996 Olympics, and the 1997 and 1999 World Championships, but his only major title had come at the 1998 European Championships. He won another major gold in Sydney, comfortably ahead of Greece’s Dimosthenis Tambakos, who would return to win the gold medal on the rings in Athinai. Bulgaria’s Yordan Yovchev had not been on a major podium since he won medals on rings at the 1995-96 World Championships, but he would win the bronze medal, and become one of the top men on rings for the next decade. He would follow Tambakos at Athinai in 2004, winning an Olympic silver, and from 2001-07 won six medals at the World Championships, including World titles in 2001 and 2003, and winning six medals at the Europeans from 2002-10, including the title in 2002.