10.1.2. Gymnastic competitions.

Gymnastics Competitions

Men's gymnastics was on the schedule of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, and it has been on the Olympic agenda continually since 1924. In the early Olympic competitions the dominant male gymnasts were from the countries where the sport first developed: Germany, Sweden, Italy and Switzerland. By the 1950s, however, the Soviet Union and the Eastern European countries began to produce the leading male and female gymnasts.

Modern international competition has six events for men and four events for women. The men's events are the rings, parallel bars, horizontal bar, side or pommel-horse, long or vaulting horse and floor (or free) exercise. These events emphasize upper body strength and flexibility along with acrobatics. The women's events are the vaulting horse, balance beam, uneven bars and floor exercise (accompanied by music). Graceful, dancelike movements are combined with strength and acrobatic skills during these events. Another type of competitive gymnastics for women is called rhythmic gymnastics, an Olympic sport since 1984. The rhythmic gymnast performs dancelike movements while holding and moving items such as a ball, hoop, rope, ribbon or clubs, with musical accompaniment.

There are six gymnasts in the teams for international competitions. In the team competition each gymnast performs on every piece of equipment, and the team with the highest number of points wins.

Gymnastic competitions are judged and scored on both an individual and a team basis. Each competitor must accomplish a required number of specific types of moves on each piece of equipment. Gymnasts try to perform the most difficult routines in the most graceful way, thus impressing the judges with their mastery of the sport.