Gymnastics at the 1974 Asian Games

Gymnastics was contested at the 1974 Asian Games, held in Tehran, Iran from September 1, 1974, to September 16, 1974. It was the first time that gymnastics was included as the medal sport in the Asian Games, and only artistic events were contested.^[1] In the Games, only four participating National Olympic Committees (NOCs) succeeded in winning any medal. China lead the medal table, with overall 18 medals (including eight gold), Japan finished second with four gold, and total nine medals. South Korea, although won only four total medals but its two gold helped it to clinch third position in final standings, while North Korea with one gold and 11 overall medals finished last.

Kazuo Horide of Japan won three gold medals in individual all-around, floor exercise and vault, and became most successful male gymnast of the Games. Jiang Shaoyi of China won gold medals in all the individual events (except vault), and became most successful gymnast of the Games. In men's events, China and Japan both won three gold medals, while two gold went to South Korea.^[2] Women's events were widely perceived as being dominated by the China, who claimed nine medals in total, including five golds.^[3]

Medalists

Men

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Team	China Cai Huanzong Liao Runtian Pan Chenfei Wu Shoude Yang Mingming Zhao Jiawei	Japan Kazuo Horide Kenji Igarashi Takeo Igarashi Ryuji Nakayama Hideyuki Nozawa Hiroshi Sugawara	North Korea Kim Sung-il Kim Sung-jin Song Soon-bong
Individual all-around	Kazuo Horide  Japan	Cai Huanzong  China	Lee Young-taik  South Korea
Floor	Kazuo Horide  Japan	Song Soon-bong  North Korea	Kim Sung-il  North Korea
Pommel horse	Cai Huanzong  China	Yang Mingming  China	Kim Hwi-chul  South Korea
Rings	Kim Kuk-han  South Korea	Liao Runtian  China	Song Soon-bong  North Korea
Vault	Kazuo Horide  Japan	Cai Huanzong  China	Hideyuki Nozawa  Japan
Parallel bars	Lee Young-taik  South Korea	Hideyuki Nozawa  Japan	Shared silver
		Cai Huanzong  China
Horizontal bar	Cai Huanzong  China	Kazuo Horide  Japan	Pan Chenfei  China

Women

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Team	China Ding Zhaofang Jiang Shaoyi Ning Xiaolin Wang Guiping Wang Xuejun Xin Guiqiu	North Korea Hwang Jo-ya Jo Yoon-hi Kim Choon-soo Pak Yung-sook	Japan Kazue Hanyu Chieko Kito Kumiko Nagaoka Yuko Nakamoto Misa Watanabe Reiko Yoshida
Individual all-around	Jiang Shaoyi  China	Ning Xiaolin  China	Xin Guiqiu  China
Vault	Reiko Yoshida  Japan	Hwang Jo-ya  North Korea	Jo Yoon-hi  North Korea
Uneven bars	Jo Yoon-hi  North Korea	Shared gold	Hwang Jo-ya  North Korea
	Jiang Shaoyi  China
Balance beam	Jiang Shaoyi  China	Xin Guiqiu  China	Jo Yoon-hi  North Korea
Floor	Jiang Shaoyi  China	Ning Xiaolin  China	Jo Yoon-hi  North Korea

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	8	8	2	18
2	Japan	4	3	2	9
3	South Korea	2	0	2	4
4	North Korea	1	3	7	11
Total		15	14	13	42

References

1. Ghose, Vijaya (1993). Limca book of records. Bisleri Beverages Ltd. p. 258.
2. Azawi, Salih al. "Medalists from previous – All Asian Games – Artistic Gymnastics Men". Gymnastics Results. gymnasticsresults.com. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
3. Azawi, Salih al. "Medalists from previous – All Asian Games – Artistic Gymnastics Women". Gymnastics Results. gymnasticsresults.com. Retrieved June 27, 2011.