Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon and rope. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coordinated. Rhythmic gymnastics is governed by the International Gymnastics Federation (FiG), which first recognized it as a sport in 1963. It became an Olympic sport in 1984, with an individual all-around event. The group all-around competition was added to the Olympics in 1996. At the international level, rhythmic gymnastics is a women-only sport. The most prestigious competitions, besides the Olympic Games, are the World Championships, World Games, European Championships, European Games, the World Cup Series and the Grand Prix Series. Gymnasts are judged on their artistry, execution of skills, and difficulty of skills, for which they gain points. They perform leaps, balances, and rotations along with handling the apparatus.
At the 2000 Summer Olympics, three different gymnastics disciplines were contested: artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, and trampoline. The artistic gymnastics and trampoline events were held at the Sydney SuperDome on 16–25 September and 22–23 September, respectively. The rhythmic gymnastics events were held at Pavilion 3 of the Sydney Olympic Park on 28 September – 1 October.
The International Gymnastics Federation is the body governing competition in all disciplines of gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on 23 July 1881 in Liège, Belgium, making it the world's oldest existing international sports organisation. Originally called the European Federation of Gymnastics, it had three member countries—Belgium, France and the Netherlands—until 1921, when non-European countries were admitted and it received its current name.
The Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships are the world championships for the sport of rhythmic gymnastics. The tournament is promoted and organized by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). It is one of the three tournaments in rhythmic gymnastics officially organized by FIG, as well as the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup and the gymnastics competitions at the Olympic Games. The first edition of the World Championships was held in 1963, a time when the sport was known as modern gymnastics. The current program of the World Championships contemplates both individual and group performances. In even non-Olympic years and the year before the Olympics, a team event is also contested. Two events are not competed at the World Championships anymore: individual rope and free hands.
The Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships are the European championships for the sport of rhythmic gymnastics. They were first held in 1978. The European Championships and the European Junior Championships were united in 1993. Prior to 2006, they were called the European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships. The competition is organised by the European Union of Gymnastics.
Three gymnastics disciplines were contested at the 2012 Olympic Games in London: artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and trampolining. The trampoline events were held at the North Greenwich Arena from 3 to 4 August; the artistic events were also held at the North Greenwich Arena, from 28 July to 7 August. The rhythmic gymnastics events took place at Wembley Arena from 9 to 12 August.
Gymnastics at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro was held in three categories: artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and trampolining. All gymnastics events were staged at the Arena Olímpica do Rio from 6 to 21 August 2016.
The Asian Gymnastic Union (AGU) organizes Asian Gymnastics Championships for each of the FIG gymnastic disciplines: men's and women's artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, acrobatic gymnastics, aerobic gymnastics and trampoline gymnastics. This article lists only the senior editions of the Asian Gymnastics Championships, in which competitors must be over 16 years of age. Specific editions of the Asian Championships also exist for junior athletes; for example, the first edition of the Junior Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held in 1971, but the first senior edition of the tournament was only held in 1996. Similarly, Junior Asian Trampoline Championships were held in 2010 and 2012, but only in 2014 the Asian Gymnastics Union held a senior tournament in conjunction with the junior championships for the first time.
The Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup is a competition for rhythmic gymnastics sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). It is one of the few tournaments in rhythmic gymnastics officially organized by FIG, as well as the World Championships, the gymnastics competitions at the Olympic Games and the Youth Olympics, and the rhythmic gymnastics events at the World Games. The World Cup series should not be confused with the Rhythmic Gymnastics Grand Prix series, which is neither officially organized nor promoted by FIG.
Gymnastics at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo was held in three categories: artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and trampolining. All gymnastics events were staged at the Olympic Gymnastic Centre, Tokyo in 2021.
The 2015 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships, the 34th edition, was held in Stuttgart, Germany, from September 7 to 13, 2015 at the Porsche Arena.
The 2017 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships, the 35th edition, was held in Pesaro, Italy, from 30 August to 3 September 2017.
The African Artistic Gymnastics Championship is the top artistic gymnastics African tournament. Initially it was held roughly every two years but starting in 2021 it became a yearly event. It is governed by the African Gymnastics Union.
The 2018 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 10 to 16 September 2018 at Arena Armeec. The top three countries in the group all-around, Russia, Italy, and Bulgaria won the first three spots for the 2020 Olympic Games. Russia was the most successful nation of the competition with seven of the nine gold medals, and Bulgaria and Italy each won a title.
The 2019 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Baku, Azerbaijan from 16 to 22 September 2019. The competition took place at the National Gymnastics Arena and served as a qualifier for the 2020 Olympic Games. There were Olympic berths awarded to 16 individuals and 5 groups. There were 301 participating athletes from 61 countries.
The 2021 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships were held from 27 to 31 October 2021 in Kitakyushu, Japan.
The African Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships is a continental sports rhythmic gymnastics competition held every two years from 2000 to 2006, then annually from 2009 and organized by African Gymnastics Association.
The 2020 African Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships also known as The 15th African Championships was held from 10 to 15 March 2020 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. This was the second time that the African Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships were hosted by Egypt. These championships are organized in conjunction with the African Aerobic Gymnastics Championships.
Malak Selim is an Egyptian rhythmic gymnast and a member of the Egyptian Gymnastics Federation. She represented Egypt at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Salma Saleh is an Egyptian rhythmic gymnast. She was a member of the team that represented Egypt in the 2016 and 2020 African Championships. She represented Egypt at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Walvis Bay, Namibia 
