Gymnastics-South Korea's Shin takes gold in men's vault

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO (Reuters) - Shin Jea-hwan became the second South Korean to win Olympic gold in the men's vault after edging ahead of Denis Abliazin on the tiebreak rule at the Tokyo Games on Monday.

Both competitors earned an average of 14.783 points from their two vaults but Shin claimed the top prize after drawing the higher individual vault score -- 14.833 -- compared with the mark of 14.800 given to Russian Olympic Committee's Abliazin.

Artur Davtyan of Armenia took bronze, winning his nation's first medal in gymnastics.

Shin's compatriot Yang Hak-seon won vault gold at the 2012 London Games.

Abliazin was part of the team that won gold for the Russian Olympic Committee, but fellow team champion Nikita Nagornyy placed only fifth among the eight finalists.

(Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Pritha Sarkar)

Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Gymnastics - Artistic - Men's Vault - Final - Ariake Gymnastics Centre, Tokyo, Japan - August 2, 2021. Gold medallist Shin Jeahwan of South Korea wearing a protective face mask holds a South Korean flag. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson

Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Gymnastics - Artistic - Men's Vault - Final - Ariake Gymnastics Centre, Tokyo, Japan - August 2, 2021. Shin Jeahwan of South Korea in action on the vault REUTERS/Mike Blake

Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Gymnastics - Artistic - Men's Vault - Final - Ariake Gymnastics Centre, Tokyo, Japan - August 2, 2021. Artur Davtyan of Armenia in action on the vault REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Gymnastics - Artistic - Men's Vault - Final - Ariake Gymnastics Centre, Tokyo, Japan - August 2, 2021. Denis Abliazin of the Russian Olympic Committee in action on the vault REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

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