World championships third-placers Japan took a sweet revenge on Monday to claim the men's gymnastics team title at the Athens Olympics with a total score of 173.821 points.

It was Japan's first men's team gold since 1976.

Japan, who placed first in the qualification, continued their momentum in the final.

Hiroyuki Tomita, whose solid landing from high bar sealed Japan's victory, told a press conference that he knew they won when he nailed the landing.

"Before that, I did not think too much about win or loss. Instead, I concentrated on my performance, so did my teammates," said Tomita, the bronze medalist of individual all-round in the 2003 Anaheim world championships.

Starting gymnastics at eight, Tomita, now 24, often dreamed of an Olympic win.

"After graduating from high school, this dream became more and more clear in my mind and today it came true," he added.

China, defending Olympic and world champions, sank to fifth with 171.257 points because of three fatal blunders on floor, parallel bars and high bar, all by inexperienced Teng Haibin.

The result was the worst for the Chinese team since 1984 although Xiao Qin scored an event-high 9.862 on pommel horse.

Teng Haibin said after the competition, "I really have some problems, and I must review my performance today."

Captain Huang Xu said, "It is natural to see failures. For Teng, he is still young and it's his first Olympics."

"I think this defeat will help him be mature in the future," Huang said.

Thanks to the stable performance by twin brothers Paul Hamm and Morgan Hamm, the United States, world runners-up, took another silver in Athens with 172.933 points.

U.S. coach Mark Williams said, "My gymnasts did a good job, but the Japanese did even better. They deserved the gold."

Asked about the U.S. rapid progress in recent years, Williams said that they attached more importance to the development of men's gymnastics at all levels.

"All people involved work hard. They are coaches, athletes, sponsors and training schools," he added.

The Chinese team were under great pressure and did not show their normal form this evening, Williams said.

"Maybe, it was not the day for China," he added.

Paul Hamm said, "I committed an error on high bar, which prevented me from doing the third release. And I got only 9.462 points."

Before high bar, Paul Hamm scored 9.725 on floor, 9.750 on pommel horse, 9.612 on vault, 9.737 on parallel bar, which helped a lot the American team. And on the last apparatus high bar, he had signature routine of three consecutive releases. But he made only two tonight.

Pommel king Daniel Urzica and Marian Dragulescu led Romania onto the podium with 172.384 points.

Results of men's gymnastics team final

1. Japan, 173.821 points

2. United States, 172.933

3. Romania, 172.384

4. South Korea, 171.847

5. China, 171.257

6. Russia, 169.808

7. Ukraine, 168.244

8. Germany, 167.372