Olympics-Gymnastics-Russia survive Asian fight back to take team gold

TOKYO: Russia claimed the first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics gymnastics competition on Monday, seeing off a dramatic late Asian challenge to win the men's team event.

Competing in Tokyo as representatives of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) because the country was stripped of its flag and anthem for doping offences, the ROC posted a winning total of 262.500 over the six apparatus to land top the podium for the first time since the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Led by Nikita Nagornyy and Artur Dalaloyan, who have both won all-around titles at the world championships, the ROC finished 0.103 of a point clear of defending champions Japan.

China took the bronze for second consecutive Games.

(Reporting by Steve Keating in Tokyo. Editing by Pritha Sarkar)