Gymnastics is an activity and sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, co-ordination, balance, and grace. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) with each country having its own national governing body affiliated to FIG. Competitive Artistic gymnastics is the best known of the gymnastic sports. It typically involves the women's events of uneven parallel bars, balance beam, floor exercise, and vault. Men's events include floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars, and high bar. Gymnastics evolved from exercises used by the ancient Greeks, that included skills for mounting and dismounting a horse, and from circus performance skills.
Other gymnastic sports include rhythmic gymnastics, the various trampolining sports, and aerobic and acrobatic gymnastics.
Participants can include children as young as two years old and sometimes younger doing kindergym and children's gymnastics, recreational gymnasts of all ages, competitive gymnasts at varying levels of skill, as well as world class athletes.
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The word derives from the Greek γυμναστική (gymnastike), fem. of γυμναστικός (gymnastikos), "fond of athletic exercises"[1], from γυμνάσια (gymnasia), "exercise"[2] and that from γυμνός (gymnos), "naked"[3], because athletes exercised and competed without clothing.
To the Ancient Greeks, physical fitness was paramount, and all Greek cities had a gymnasium, a courtyard for jumping, running, and wrestling. As the Roman Empire ascended, Greek gymnastics gave way to military training. The Romans, for example, introduced the wooden horse. In 393 AD the Emperor Theodosius abolished the Olympic Games, which by then had become corrupt, and gymnastics, along with other sports, declined. For centuries, gymnastics was all but forgotten.[4]
In the fifteenth century, Girolamo Mercuriale from Forlì (Italy) wrote De Arte Gymnastica, that brought together his study of the attitudes of the ancients toward diet, exercise and hygiene, and the use of natural methods for the cure of disease. De Arte Gymnastica also explained the principles of physical therapy and is considered the first book on sports medicine.
In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Germany, two pioneer physical educators – Johann Friedrich GutsMuths (1759–1839) and Friedrich Ludwig Jahn (1778–1852) – created exercises for boys and young men on apparatus they had designed and that ultimately led to what is considered modern gymnastics. In particular, Jahn crafted early models of the horizontal bar, the parallel bars (from a horizontal ladder with the rungs removed), and the vaulting horse.[4]
The International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG) was founded in Liege in 1881[5]. By the end of the nineteenth century, men's gymnastics competition was popular enough to be included in the first "modern" Olympic Games in 1896. From then on until the early 1950s, both national and international competitions involved a changing variety of exercises gathered under the rubric gymnastics that would seem strange to today's audiences: synchronized team floor calisthenics, rope climbing, high jumping, running, horizontal ladder, etc. During the 1920s, women organized and participated in gymnastics events, and the first women's Olympic competition – primitive, for it involved only synchronized calisthenics – was held at the 1928 Games in Amsterdam.
By 1954, Olympic Games apparatus and events for both men and women had been standardized in modern format, and uniform grading structures (including a point system from 1 to 15) had been agreed upon. At this time, Soviet gymnasts astounded the world with highly disciplined and difficult performances, setting a precedent that continues. The new medium of television helped publicize and initiate a modern age of gymnastics. Both men's and women's gymnastics now attract considerable international interest, and excellent gymnasts can be found on every continent. Nadia Comaneci received the first perfect score, at the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal, Canada. She was coached in Romania by the Romanian coach, (Hungarian ethnicity), Béla Károlyi. According to Sports Illustrated, Comaneci scored four of her perfect tens on the uneven bars, two on the balance beam and one in the floor exercise.[6] Even with Nadia's perfect scores, the Romanians lost the gold medal to the Soviets. Nevertheless, Comaneci became an Olympic icon.
In 2006, a new points system for Artistic gymnastics was put into play. With an A Score (or D score) being the difficulty score, which as of 2009 is based on the top 8 high scoring elements in a routine (excluding Vault). The B Score (or E Score), is the score for execution, and is given for how well the skills are performed.[7]
Artistic gymnastics is usually divided into Men's and Women's Gymnastics. Typically men compete six events: Floor Exercise, Pommel Horse, Still Rings, Vault, Parallel Bars, and High Bar, while women compete four: Vault, Uneven Bars, Balance Beam, and Floor Exercise. In some countries, women at one time competed on the rings, high bar, and parallel bars (for example, in the 1950s in the USSR). Though routines performed on each event may be short, they are physically exhausting and push the gymnast's strength, flexibility, endurance and awareness to the limit.
Artistic gymnasts participate in competitions which use a standardized level system ranging from Level 1 to Level 10. Levels 1 through 6 compete using compulsory routines. In Levels 7 though 10, athletes may use their own routines created from a set of skills which must be included. Elite competition, open to skilled younger athletes in lower levels, is typically reserved for athletes who have aged out of the junior program; for example, in the United States, Junior Olympic competition ends when the athlete reaches age 18. Elite gymnasts compete for team slots, which allows them access to international competition. It is accepted practice at the compulsory and optional level to use standardized routines in the training of young gymnasts.
In 2006, FIG introduced a new points system for Artistic gymnastics in which scores are no longer limited to 10 points. The system is used in the US for elite level competition. [7]
A gymnast's score comes from deductions taken from their start value. The start value of a routine is calculated based on the difficulty of the elements the gymnast attempts and whether or not the gymnast meets composition requirements. The composition requirements are different for each apparatus. This score is called the D score.[11] Deductions in execution and artistry are taken from 10.0. This score is called the E score.[12] The final score is calculated by taking deductions from the E score, and adding the result to the D score.[13]
As with the women, male gymnasts are also judged on all of their events, for their execution, degree of difficulty, and overall presentation skills.
Only women compete in rhythmic gymnastics although there is a new version of this discipline for men being pioneered in Japan, see Men's rhythmic gymnastics. The sport involves the performance of five separate routines with the use of five apparatus—ball, ribbon, hoop, clubs, rope—on a floor area, with a much greater emphasis on the aesthetic rather than the acrobatic. There are also group routines consisting of 5 gymnasts and 5 apparatuses of their choice. Rhythmic routines are scored out of a possible 20 points; the score for artistry (choreography and music) is averaged with the score for difficulty of the moves and then added to the score for execution.[14]
Trampolining and tumbling consists of four events, individual, synchronized, double mini and power tumbling. Since 2000, individual trampoline has been included in the Olympic Games. Individual routines in trampolining involve a build-up phase during which the gymnast jumps repeatedly to achieve height, followed by a sequence of ten leaps without pauses during which the gymnast performs a sequence of aerial skills. Routines are marked out of a maximum score of 10 points. Additional points (with no maximum at the highest levels of competition) can be earned depending on the difficulty of the moves. In high level competitions, there are two preliminary routines, one which has only two moves scored for difficulty and one where the athlete is free to perform any routine. This is followed by a final routine which is optional. Some competitions restart the score from zero for the finals, other add the final score to the preliminary results. Synchronized trampoline is similar except that both competitors must perform the routine together and marks are awarded for synchronicity as well as the form and difficulty of the moves. Double mini trampoline involves a smaller trampoline with a run-up, two moves are performed for preliminaries and two more for finals. Moves cannot be repeated and the scores are marked in a similar manner to individual trampoline. In power tumbling, athletes perform an explosive series of flips and twists down a sprung tumbling track. Scoring is similar to trampolining.
General gymnastics enables people of all ages and abilities to participate in performance groups of 6 to more than 150 athletes. They perform synchronized, choreographed routines. Troupes may be all one gender or mixed. There are no age divisions in general gymnastics. The largest general gymnastics exhibition is the quadrennial World Gymnaestrada which was first held in 1939.
Aerobic gymnastics (formally Sport Aerobics) involves the performance of routines by individuals, pairs, trios or groups up to 6 people, emphasizing strength, flexibility, and aerobic fitness rather than acrobatic or balance skills. Routines are performed for all individuals on a 7x7m floor and also for 12-14 and 15-17 trios and mixed pairs. From 2009, all senior trios and mixed pairs were required to be on the larger floor (10x10m), all groups also perform on this floor. Routines generally last 60–90 seconds depending on age of participant and routine category.
Acrobatic gymnastics (formerly Sports Acrobatics), often referred to as acrobatics, "acro" sports or simply sports acro, is a group gymnastic discipline for both men and women. Acrobats in groups of two, three and four perform routines with the heads, hands and feet of their partners. They may, subject to regulations (e.g. no lyrics), pick their own music.
Beginning recreational acro gymnastics includes levels of 1, 2, and 3 (which require one routine containing both dynamic and balance skills). Compulsory levels]] 4, 5, 6, and 7 (which also only require one routine). At levels of 8, 9, two routines are required - one for balance and one for dynamic. For optional levels 10, and elite, three routines are required - one for balance, one for dynamic, and one combined routine.[citation needed]
TeamGym originated in Scandinavia, and as a major gymnastics event has been popular for 20 years. A team in this sport can have from 6 to 12 members, either all male, all female or a mixed squad. The team shows three disciplines, Trampette, Tumbling and Floor. All events require strong technical, acrobatic and teamwork skills. Team Gym is popular as a spectator sport.
Starting in 2011, the rhythmic apparatus rope will be removed from all FIG events and clubs will be returned to the competition. FIG has a policy of only using four of the five pieces of apparatus and changes them for different Olympic cycles. This will affect World Cups, World Championships, and Olympics.
Generally, competitors climbed either a 6m (6.1m = 20 ft in USA) or an 8m (7.6m = 25 ft in USA), 38mm (1.5") diameter natural fiber rope for speed, starting from a seated position on the floor and using only the hands and arms. Kicking the legs in a kind of "stride" was normally permitted. Many gymnasts can do this in the straddle or pike position, which eliminates the help generated from the legs.
Flying Rings was an event similar to Still Rings, but with the performer executing a series of stunts while swinging. It was a gymnastic event sanctioned by both the NCAA and the AAU until the early 1960s.
Gymnastics is considered to be a dangerous sport, due in part to the height of the apparatus, the speed of the exercises and the impact on competitors' joints, bones and muscles. In several cases, competitors have suffered serious, lasting injuries and paralysis after severe gymnastics-related accidents. For instance, in 1998, at the Goodwill Games, world-class Chinese artistic gymnast Sang Lan was paralyzed after falling on vault.
Artistic gymnastics injuries have been the subject of several international medical studies, and results have indicated that more than half of all elite-level participants may eventually develop chronic injuries. In the United States, injury rates range from a high 56% for high school gymnasts to 23% for club gymnasts. However, the rates of injury for participants in recreational or lower-level gymnastics are lower than that of high-level competitors. Conditioning, secure training environments with appropriate landing surfaces, and knowledgeable coaching can also lessen the frequency or occurrence of injuries.[16][17][18]
   | University of Michigan gymnasts - University of Michigan Athletics -- Men's Gymnastics |
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