Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shoulders, back, chest, and abdominal muscle groups. Gymnastics evolved from exercises used by the ancient Greeks that included skills for mounting and dismounting a horse, and from circus performance skills.
Svetlana Vasilyevna Khorkina is a retired Russian artistic gymnast. She competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics, the 2000 Summer Olympics, and the 2004 Summer Olympics. During her career, Khorkina won seven Olympic medals and twenty World Championship medals. Over time, she medaled in every event at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She was also the first gymnast to win three all-around titles at the World Championships and only the second female artistic gymnast ever, after Nadia Comăneci, to win three European All-Around titles. Khorkina is regarded as one of the most successful female gymnasts of all time.
The 37th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Anaheim, California, United States, from 16 to 24 August 2003.
The 1994 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 19–24 April 1994.
Women's events at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were first held in 1934 at the 10th World Championships. Only the all-around and team events were held. In 1950, at the 12th World Championships, the other apparatus events were added. It was not held in 1992, 1993, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017, and 2021. In 1994, a separate team championships were held, apart from the individual events championships. This was the only year such a separation was made.
The vault event at the European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships was first held in 1957.
The uneven bars at the European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships were first held in 1957.
Elena Mikhaylovna "Lena" Piskun is a Belarusian former artistic gymnast who won two World Championship gold medals in the 1990s and competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Jani Tanskanen is a Finnish former artistic gymnast. He was the 1997 World Champion on high bar, and the first Finnish gold medalist at the World Championships since 1950. He is the current President of the Athletes' Commission for the International Gymnastics Federation as well as the athlete representative of Men's Artistic Gymnastics.
Eleftherios "Lefteris" Petrounias is a Greek artistic gymnast. He is the 2016 Olympic champion, 2020 Olympic bronze medalist, three-time World champion and a six-time European medalist on the still rings. He was named the Greek Male Athlete of the Year, for the years 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.
Ryan Patterson is a South African male artistic gymnast who qualified to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Artem Olegovich Dolgopyat is a Ukrainian-born Israeli artistic gymnast who specializes in the floor exercise. He is the 2020 Olympic champion and the 2023 World champion on floor exercise. He also won two silver medals at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships on the floor exercise, and is the 2020 and 2022 European champion of that exercise.
The 2018 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships was the 48th edition of the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. The competition was held from October 25 – November 3, 2018, at the Aspire Academy Dome in Doha, Qatar.
The men's vault event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held on 24 July and 2 August 2021 at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. Unlike the other apparatus events, vault requires gymnasts to perform two exercises in order for results to count towards the vault final; most of the gymnasts perform only one or none. Approximately 20 gymnasts from 15 nations competed two vaults in the qualifying round.
The men's floor event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held on 24 July and 1 August 2021 at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. Approximately 70 gymnasts from 35 nations competed on floor in the qualifying round.
The men's pommel horse event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held on 24 July and 1 August 2021 at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. Approximately 70 gymnasts from 35 nations competed on pommel horse in the qualifying round.
The women's uneven bars event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held on 25 July and 1 August 2021 at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. Approximately 90 gymnasts from 53 nations competed on the uneven bars in the qualifying round.
The women's balance beam event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held on 25 July and 3 August 2021 at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. Approximately 90 gymnasts from 53 nations are expected to compete on the balance beam in the qualifying round.
The 33rd European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held from 17 to 20 December 2020 in Mersin, Turkey. The competition was originally scheduled to be held from 30 April to 3 May 2020 in Paris, France, but it was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Baku, Azerbaijan was announced as the replacement host for 17 to 20 December, before the event was relocated to Mersin. Originally an Olympic qualifying event, the competition was undesignated as such in light of the ongoing pandemic, so as to avoid pressuring member federations to attend if they were not willing to do so.
Tijana Korent is a Croatian artistic gymnast. She is a vault specialist, and she qualified for the vault event finals at the 2020 and 2013 European Championships. In 2013, she became the first Croatian female gymnast to qualify for an event final at the European Championships.
Lausanne, Switzerland
