The United States earned bronze in the Paris Olympics men’s gymnastics team competition for its first medal since 2008.

The Americans had qualified in fifth place Saturday but put on a superb performance Monday, nailing most of their landings in the competition.

Japan surged past longtime rival China to win gold by 0.532 points. It was Japan’s eighth team gold and first since Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

The Japanese gymnasts overtook their rivals on the final rotation, after China’s Su Weide fell twice off the horizontal bar.

Japan finished with a total of 259.594 points, China had 259.062 and the United States had 257.793. Great Britain finished fourth with 255.527 points.

Russia, which won gold at the Tokyo Games, did not compete because of its invasion of Ukraine.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.