The men's

parallel bars Parallel bars are floor apparatus consisting of two wooden bars slightly over long and positioned at roughly head height. Parallel bars are used in artistic gymnastics and also for physical therapy and home exercise. Gymnasts may optionally we ...

competition at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

was held at the

North Greenwich Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O2 arena), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of the O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the s ...

on 28 July and 7 August. It included 71 competitors from 33 nations.

Feng Zhe Feng Zhe (; born November 19, 1987 in Sichuan) is a male Chinese gymnast. He is the 2010 World Champion and the 2012 Olympic Champion on the parallel bars. He was also part of the Chinese team that won the team gold at the 2012 Summer Olympic ...

of China won the gold medal, his nation's second consecutive victory in the parallel bars competition and third overall.

Marcel Nguyen Marcel Van Minh Phuc Long Nguyen (born 8 September 1987) is a German artistic gymnast and three-time Olympian, having represented Germany at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympic Games. He is the 2012 Olympic silver medalist in the all-around and on ...

's silver was the first medal for a German gymnast in the event since

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

Hamilton Sabot Hamilton Sabot (born 31 May 1987 in Cagnes-Sur-Mer) is a French gymnast. He competed for the national team at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Men's artistic team all-around. He won a bronze medal in parallel bars at the 2012 Summer Olympics. ...

won the bronze, France's first parallel bars medal. The final included nine gymnasts instead of the standard eight after a tie for the last spot could not be resolved.

Background

This was the 23rd appearance of the parallel bars event at the Olympics. Only one of the eight finalists from

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

returned: fourth-place finisher

Fabian Hambüchen Fabian Hambüchen (also spelled Hambuechen; ; born 25 October 1987) is a retired German gymnast who was a four-time Olympian (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016) and was Olympic, World, and European champion. Fabian also won gold medals at European Games a ...

of Germany.

Danell Leyva Danell Johan Leyva (born October 30, 1991) is a Cuban-American former gymnast who competed for the United States. He is the 2012 Olympic individual all-around bronze medalist and 2016 Olympic parallel bars and horizontal bar silver medalist. H ...

of the United States was the reigning world champion;

of China had won the world championship in 2010 and finished second in 2011.

of Germany was a two-time European champion. Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Slovakia, and Vietnam each made their debut in the men's parallel bars. The United States made its 21st appearance, the most of any nation.

Competition format

The top eight competitors in the qualification phase (with a limit of two per country) advanced to the apparatus final. Qualification scores were then erased, with only final-round scores counting.Format Competition – Artistic Gymnastic

Kōhei Uchimura is a retired Japanese artistic gymnast. He is a seven-time Olympic medalist (all-around, team and floor exercise), winning three golds and four silvers, and a twenty-one-time World medalist (all-around, team, floor exercise, horizontal bar, and ...

finished fifth in the qualifying round but did not advance because two other Japanese competitors, Kazuhito and Yusuke Tanaka, placed first and second. With Uchimura ineligible, the ninth-place gymnast would advance, but there was a tie. The normal tie-breakers were unable to separate

Zhang Chenglong Zhang Chenglong (; born May 12, 1989) is a Chinese gymnast. He competed for the national team at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Gymnastics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's artistic team all-around, Men's artistic team all-around and helpe ...

and

, so both advanced.

Final results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gymnastics at the 2012 Summer Olympics - Men's parallel bars Gymnastics at the 2012 Summer Olympics

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Men's 2012 Men's events at the 2012 Summer Olympics