Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform individually or in groups 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. At the international level, rhythmic gymnastics is a women-only sport.
At the 1996 Summer Olympics, two different gymnastics disciplines were contested: artistic gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics. The artistic gymnastics events were held at the Georgia Dome from July 20–25 and July 28–29. The rhythmic gymnastics events were held at Stegeman Coliseum in nearby Athens, on the campus of the University of Georgia from August 1–4.
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.
Gymnastics was contested at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. Artistic gymnastics took place from December 2 to December 6. Rhythmic gymnastics took place on December 9 and 10, while Trampoline was contested on December 11 and 12. All Gymnastics events took place at Aspire Hall 2.
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.
Ri Se-gwang is a retired North Korean artistic gymnast, representing the April 25 Sports Club. He is often considered a specialist on vault apparatus in the sport of men’s artistic gymnastics (MAG).
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.
Gymnastics events have been contested at every Asian Games since 1974 Asian Games in Tehran.
Gymnastics at the 2010 Asian Games was held at the Asian Games Town Gymnasium in Guangzhou, China from November 13 to 26, 2010.
Gymnastics was contested at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea. Artistic gymnastics took place from October 1 to October 5. Rhythmic gymnastics took place on October 8 and 9. All Gymnastics events took place at Sajik Gymnasium.
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.
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.
Dipa Karmakar is an Indian former artistic gymnast. She is the first Indian female gymnast to compete at the Olympic Games. At the 2016 Olympics, in the vault event, she missed a medal by just 0.15 points. Karmakar is one of only five women in the world to have mastered the Produnova vault. In 2024, she announced her retirement from gymnastics.
The 1996 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships were the first edition of the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships, and were held in Changsha, China, in September 1996.
Xiao Ruoteng is a Chinese artistic gymnast. He competed at the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games, winning five medals. He is the 2017 World all-around champion and the 2018 World pommel horse champion. As a member of the Chinese team, he is a 2018 World champion and a two-time Asian Games champion. He is also the 2017 Asian all-around and pommel horse champion.
Gymnastics at the 2018 Asian Games was held at the Jakarta International Expo Hall D2, Jakarta, Indonesia, from 20 to 30 August 2018.
Carlos Edriel Poquiz Yulo is a Filipino artistic gymnast. He is the 2024 Olympic gold medalist at the floor exercise and vault events. He is the first Filipino and the first male Southeast Asian gymnast to medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships with his floor exercise bronze medal finish in 2018, as well as the first Filipino and Southeast Asian to achieve a gold medal finish for the same criteria in 2019 at the same event. With multiple medals on the international stage, Yulo is the second person to win an Olympic gold medal for the Philippines, the first person to win multiple Olympic gold medals for the country, and the first Southeast Asian athlete to win multiple gold medals at the Olympic Games.
The 2019 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships was the eighth edition of the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships, and were held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from 19 to 22 June 2019.
Sabina Tashkenbaeva (UZB)
Zhao Yating (CHN)
Adilya Tlekenova (KAZ)
Japan 