Gymnastics

The pommel horse event is performed on a piece of equip­ment called a horse. The gymnast uses his hands to support his weight and performs various leg movements without stopping.

The rings is an event held on two wooden rings suspended from cables. The gymnast tries to keep the rings motionless while he executes a number of manoeuvres with his body.

The parallel bars event takes place on two long wooden bars. While supporting himself with his hands, the gymnast carries out acrobatic movements that require great strength.

The side horse vault consists of leaping across the width of the horse. After a running start, the gymnast jumps from a springboard, bracing her hands on the stand as she goes over.

The uneven parallel bars event is performed on two wooden bars. The competitor swings back and forth from bar to bar and executes difficult manoeuvres while in constant motion.

The balance beam is held on a long wooden beam. The gym­nast tries to use the full length of the beam while she performs acrobatic movements, jumps, leaps, running steps, and turns.

Simone Biles

Simone Biles Wins Gold at Rio Olympics 2016

Women's Individual All-Around.

Gymnastics is a sport in which each contestant per­forms acrobatic exercises on various types of gymnastic equipment. Two or more teams compete in a competi­tion, which takes place in a gymnasium. Men's and women's teams have separate competitions. Judges watch each gymnast's performance, called a routine, and decide what score he or she has earned. Gymnas­tics helps develop balance, endurance, flexibility, and strength. Most women gymnasts reach their peak in their teens. Top men gymnasts average 21 years of age.

Friedrich Jahn, a German schoolteacher, built the first modern gymnastics equipment in the early 1800's. Gym­nastics has been a part of the Olympic Games since the modern Olympics began in 1896. During the 1970’s, worldwide television coverage of the Olympics helped gymnastics grow remarkably as a spectator sport.

Men's events

A men's gymnastics competition consists of six events that are held in a set order. These events, in order of performance, are the (1) floor exercise, (2) pommel horse, (3) rings, (4) horse vault, (5) parallel bars, and (6) horizontal bar. Men who compete in all six events are called all-around gymnasts. Those who enter only one or two events are called specialists.

The floor exercise is performed on a mat that meas­ures 12 metres square. The gymnast performs a continu­ous series of movements that require balance, flexibility, and strength. These movements include handsprings, leaps, somersaults in the air, and tumbling. The floor ex­ercise must be completed in not less than 50 seconds and not more than 70 seconds.

The pommel horse, or side horse, is named after the padded piece of equipment on which this event is held. The horse measures about 165 centimetres long and about 35 centimetres wide. It has two wooden han­dles on top called pommels which are about 125 centi­metres from the floor. The gymnast uses the pommels to support his weight entirely with his hands. He swings his legs in circles around the sides and top of the horse without stopping. He also performs a movement called the scissors, beginning with one leg on each side of the horse. He switches the positions of his legs as he swings them from side to side. He must frequently support him­self with only one hand while raising the other hand to swing his legs past.

The rings. This event is performed on two wooden rings suspended from cables about 250 centimetres above the floor. The gymnast leaps up and grasps the rings and then tries to keep them motionless while per­forming various movements. These include handstands and complete circular swings. The athlete supports his body in various strength positions, which require excep­tional power. In a movement called the cross, for exam­ple, he supports himself in an upright position with his arms extended sideways. The event also includes hold­ing positions, which require him to remain motionless for two seconds.

The horse vault is performed on a stand that resem­bles the pommel horse but has no pommels. In this event, the gymnast vaults across the length of the horse. He approaches the horse at a run and jumps up and for­ward from a low springboard. He places one or both hands on the horse for support as he goes over. He may twist around in the air, do a somersault, or perform any one of several movements. In some competitions, the gymnast vaults twice and his final score comes from an average of his two vaults. In international competition, the gymnast vaults once.

The parallel bars. In this event, the gymnast per­forms on two long wooden bars about 165 centimetres high and slightly more than shoulder width apart. He supports himself on the bars with his hands while per­forming handstands, swings, twists, and other acrobatic movements. The gymnast may perform several holding positions on the parallel bars. In each one, he must re­main motionless for one or two seconds. In addition, he performs various strength movements that require great arm power and must be done slowly.

The horizontal bar event takes place on a somewhat flexible steel bar fastened about 250 centimetres above the floor between two supports. The gymnast holds the bar with one or both hands and swings around it repeat­edly. He performs several acrobatic movements without coming to a full stop. During this routine, he must re­verse his position, which involves a change of grip on the bar. He also must perform manoeuvres that require him to release his grip and regain it again while in the air. Many gymnasts finish this event with a spectacular dismount from the bar. They swing rapidly around the bar, let go, and twist or somersault in the air before landing on their feet.

All-around competition for men consists of all six events. In national and international competitions, an all-around competitor must perform a compulsory routine in each event. This routine involves a set sequence of movements. The gymnast then performs an optional routine in each of the six events, doing whatever move­ments he chooses. Only all-around gymnasts compete in international competition.

Women's events

A women's gymnastics competition has four events.

In order of performance, they are (1) side horse vault, (2) uneven parallel bars, (3) balance beam, and (4) floor ex­ercise. Most women gymnasts enter all these events.

The side horse vault is performed on the same equipment used in men's horse vaulting. But women gymnasts vault across the horse's width rather than its length. In most competitions, the gymnast vaults twice, but only the higher of the two scores counts.

The uneven parallel bars. In this event, gymnasts compete on two parallel wooden bars, one about 230 centimetres above the floor and the other about 150 centimetres high. The athlete swings around one bar at a time, performing manoeuvres that require great flexi­bility and agility. She switches rapidly back and forth from one bar to the other, trying to keep in constant mo­tion.

The balance beam. This event involves a long wooden beam about 10 centimetres wide. Competitors perform jumps, leaps, running steps, and turns on it and try to use the beam's full length. The best performers also do cartwheels, back handsprings, and somersaults. The routine must last at least 1 minute 10 seconds but not more than 1 minute 30 seconds.

The floor exercise is performed on a mat that re­sembles the one used in the men's floor exercise. Women gymnasts perform this event with a musical ac­companiment Each contestant designs her routine to match the tempo and mood of the music she has se­lected. She must take at least 1 minute 10 seconds and not more than 1 minute 30 seconds to demonstrate her skill in acrobatics, dancing, and tumbling.

All-around competition for women includes all four events. In national and international competitions, every competitor performs a compulsory routine in each event and then an optional routine in each. International competition is open only to all-around gymnasts.

Rhythmic gymnastics is a separate type of gymnas­tics competition. In rhythmic gymnastics, gymnasts per­form a dance routine while executing manoeuvres and stunts with a piece of hand-held equipment. The equip­ment may be a ball, club, hoop, ribbon, or rope. Rhyth­mic gymnasts perform on a mat similar to the one used in floor exercise competition. The routines are per­formed to music and last from 60 to 90 seconds. Con­testants are judged on their grace and the difficulty of their manoeuvres, including the skill with which they re­lease and catch the equipment In 1984, rhythmic gym­nastics became an event in the Summer Olympic Games.

Gymnastics competition

Judging, judges of gymnastics competitions carefully watch each compulsory routine for such flaws as falls, improper body position, omissions, slowness, and stops. In the optional routines, the judges base their scores on difficulty, form, and the combination of move­ments.

A perfect score for any event is 10.00. The judges sub­tract points or tenths of a point for each flaw. In optional routines, the judges may award bonus points for espe­cially difficult or original movement.

In men's competition, five judges, including one called a head or superior judge, score the performance of each gymnast. In most cases, the score of the head judge is not used. Instead, the head judge takes the scores of the other judges and eliminates the highest and lowest ones. The head judge computes an athlete's final score by averaging the two middle scores. If the difference between the two middle scores exceeds a certain range, the head judge's own score is used as a guide in adjusting the final score. At an international competition, each team's top five individual all-around scores are added together for the team score.
In women's competition, there are seven judges, in­cluding a head judge. The highest and lowest scores of the six other judges are dropped and the remaining four are averaged to produce the final score.