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.
The pommel horse is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. Traditionally, it is used by only male gymnasts. Originally made of a metal frame with a wooden body and a leather cover, the modern pommel horse has a metal body covered with foam rubber and leather, with plastic handles.
Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the Code of Points used to score performances and regulates all aspects of elite international competition. Within individual countries, gymnastics is regulated by national federations such as British Gymnastics and USA Gymnastics. Artistic gymnastics is a popular spectator sport at many competitions, including the Summer Olympic Games.
Gilbert Larose was a gymnast who was named NCAA all-around champion for the University of Michigan in 1963 and competed for Canada in the 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics. Larose was the first University of Michigan gymnast to win the NCAA all-around title.
United States of America Gymnastics is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Established in 1963 as the U.S. Gymnastics Federation (USGF), USA Gymnastics is responsible for selecting and training national teams for the Olympic Games and World Championships. The revised 2018 mission of USA Gymnastics is focused on "creating a culture that empowers and supports its athletes and focuses on its highest priority, the safety and well-being of the athletes." USAG sets the rules and policies that govern the sport of gymnastics, including "promoting and developing gymnastics on the grassroots and national levels, as well as a safe, empowered and positive training environment, and serving as a resource center for members, clubs, fans and gymnasts throughout the United States."
Abraham Israel "Abie" Grossfeld is an American gymnastics coach and former gymnast. Grossfeld represented the United States as a gymnast for 15 consecutive years in 35 countries as a member of 26 international United States men's national artistic gymnastics teams including the Olympic Games, World Championships, and Pan American Games.
Louis Antoine Smith MBE is a retired English artistic gymnast.
Kōhei Uchimura is a retired Japanese artistic gymnast. He is a seven-time Olympic medalist, winning three golds and four silvers, and a 21-time World medalist.
Max Antony Whitlock is a retired English artistic gymnast. With fourteen medals and six titles in Olympic and World Championships, Whitlock is the most successful gymnast in British history. He is also the most successful pommel horse worker in Olympic Games history, with two gold medals and one bronze.
Samuel Anthony Mikulak is an American gymnastics coach. A retired artistic gymnast, he was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team. He is a six-time U.S. national all-around champion, the 2018 World bronze medalist on the horizontal bar, and a three-time Olympian. He is also an eight-time NCAA champion, winning the team, individual all-around, and several individual event titles at the 2011, 2013, and 2014 NCAA Men's Gymnastics championships. In 2023, he started serving as a gymnastics coach at EVO Gymnastics.
The USA Gymnastics National Championships is the annual artistic gymnastics national competition held in the United States for elite-level competition. It is currently organized by USA Gymnastics, the governing body for gymnastics in the United States. The national championships have been held since 1963.
Nikolai Yulievich Kuksenkov is a retired Russian gymnast who won a silver medal in the team event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He competed for Ukraine for many years and moved to Russia after the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where he placed fourth in the all-around and fourth with the team.
Oleg Yuriyovych Verniaiev is a Ukrainian artistic gymnast. He is the 2016 Olympic parallel bars champion and individual all-around silver medalist. Verniaiev is also the 2014 World parallel bars champion, the 2015 European individual all-around champion and the 2017 European individual all-around champion.
Frank Conway Turner was a British gymnast who took part in four Olympic Games, three as a competitor and the fourth as National Coach; he was captain of the British Gymnastics team in the 1948 Summer Olympics. Turner was four times British gymnastics champion.
The United States women's national artistic gymnastics team represents the United States in FIG international competitions.
Yul Kyung-Tae Moldauer is an American artistic gymnast. He is the 2017 U.S. national all-around champion and the 2017 World bronze medalist on floor exercise. He has been a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team since 2017 and represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics and was a member of the bronze medal winning team at the 2023 World Championships.
Joseph Kotys was an American artistic gymnast. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and won a team gold medal and three individual medals at the 1955 Pan American Games. At the 1948 Summer Olympics, he placed seventh with the team and had his best individual result of twenty-third place on pommel horse.
Ronald S. Barak is an American gymnast. At the 1961 Maccabiah Games he won eight gold medals, one silver medal, and one bronze medal. At the 1964 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships he won the all-around competition, the horizontal bars, and the parallel bars, and at the 1964 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) National Gymnastics Competition he was the champion in the horizontal bars. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and competed in eight events at the 1964 Summer Olympics.
Daiki Hashimoto is a Japanese artistic gymnast. Widely regarded as the successor of Kohei Uchimura, he won two gold medals at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in all-around and horizontal bar, as well as a silver in team. His Tokyo individual gold medal win win made him the youngest Olympic All-Around champion, at age 19 years, 355 days. At the world championships, he has also won 3 golds, 5 silvers, and 1 bronze.
Matvei Sergeyevich Petrov is a Russian-born Albanian artistic gymnast. He is the 2020 European Champion on the pommel horse, and he is Albania's first European medalist. He represented Albania at the 2020 Summer Olympics and was the first reserve for the pommel horse final after finishing tenth in the qualification round.
