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.
At the 1904 Summer Olympics of St. Louis, Missouri, eleven gymnastics events were contested for the first time.
At the 1900 Summer Olympics one gymnastics event for men was contested. The competition was held on Sunday, 29 July 1900, and on Monday, 30 July 1900. There were 135 competitors from 8 nations. The top 18 places were taken by French gymnasts, of which there were more than 100. The event was won by Gustave Sandras, with Noël Bas finishing second and Lucien Démanet third. The highest-placing foreign gymnast was Jules Ducret of Switzerland, in a tie for 19th place.
The men's individual all-around, also known as the heptathlon, was one of two gymnastics events on the Gymnastics at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. As suggested by the alternate name, the competition included seven events with the scores summed to give a final score. Each nation could enter up to 20 gymnasts, with France and Great Britain each entering the maximum. A total of 97 gymnasts from 12 nations competed. The event was won by Alberto Braglia of Italy, the nation's first medal in the men's individual all-around. Silver went to Walter Tysall of Great Britain, the first medal for the nation as well. France's Louis Ségura earned bronze.
The men's triathlon was an unusual event conducted during the 1904 Summer Olympics. The International Olympic Committee lists it as part of the Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics programme, though other sources list it among the Gymnastics at the 1904 Summer Olympics events. Gymnasts rather than track and field athletes competed. However, the three events of the triathlon were decidedly athletic rather than gymnastic in nature, comprising the long jump, the shot put, and the 100 yard dash.
The men's parallel bars was an artistic gymnastics event held as part of the gymnastics programme at the 1904 Summer Olympics. It was the second time the event was held at the Olympics. An unknown number of gymnasts competed, only five are known. The competition was held on Friday, October 28, 1904. The event was won by George Eyser, with Anton Heida second and John Duha.
The men's horizontal bar was an artistic gymnastics event held as part of the gymnastics programme at the 1904 Summer Olympics. It was the second time the event was held at the Olympics. An unknown number of gymnasts competed, only five are known at present. The competition was held on Friday, October 28, 1904. Anton Heida and Edward Hennig tied for first, with George Eyser third.
The men's vault was an artistic gymnastics event held as part of the gymnastics programme at the 1904 Summer Olympics. It was only the second time that the event was held at the Olympics. An unknown number of gymnasts competed, only five are known. The competition was held on Friday, October 28, 1904.
The men's pommel horse was an artistic gymnastics event held as part of the gymnastics programme at the 1904 Summer Olympics. It was the second time the event was held at the Olympics. An unknown number of gymnasts competed, only five are known. The competition was held on Friday, October 28, 1904. All known competitors were American. The event was won by Anton Heida, with George Eyser second and William Merz third.
The men's rings was an artistic gymnastics event held as part of the gymnastics programme at the 1904 Summer Olympics. It was the second time the event was held at the Olympics. An unknown number of gymnasts competed, only three are known. The competition was held on Friday, October 28, 1904. All three of the known competitors, the medalists, were American. The event was won by Herman Glass, with William Merz second and Emil Voigt third.
The men's club swinging was an artistic gymnastics event held as part of the gymnastics programme at the 1904 Summer Olympics. It was the only time the club swinging event was held, though an "Indian clubs" competition was held at the 1932 Summer Olympics. An unknown number of gymnasts competed, only three are known. The competition was held on Friday, October 28, 1904.
The men's triathlon was an artistic gymnastics event held as part of the gymnastics programme at the 1904 Summer Olympics. It was the only time the event was held at the Olympics. The competition was held on Friday, July 1, 1904, and on Saturday, July 2, 1904. One hundred and nineteen gymnasts from three nations competed.
The men's artistic individual all-around was an artistic gymnastics event held as part of the gymnastics programme at the 1904 Summer Olympics. It was the second time an all-around event was held at the Olympics. The competition was held on Friday, July 1, 1904 and on Saturday, July 2, 1904. One hundred and nineteen gymnasts from three nations competed. The event was won by Julius Lenhart, an Austrian gymnast living in the United States and competing under the auspices of his Philadelphia-based club. Silver went to Wilhelm Weber of Germany, with bronze to Adolf Spinnler of Switzerland. They were the first medals in the event for each of those nations, as France had swept the medals in 1900.
The men's team was an artistic gymnastics event held as part of the Gymnastics at the 1904 Summer Olympics programme. It was the first time a team event, in the sense of combining scores of individual gymnasts, was held at the Olympics. Previous team events had been performances by large groups of gymnasts at a single time. The competition was held on Friday, July 1, 1904 and on Saturday, July 2, 1904.
The men's parallel bars event was part of the gymnastics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. It was one of nine gymnastics events and it was contested for the third time after 1896 and 1904. The competition was held on Sunday, July 20, 1924. Seventy-two gymnasts from nine nations competed. The event was won by August Güttinger of Switzerland, the nation's first victory in the event. Robert Pražák of Czechoslovakia and Giorgio Zampori of Italy earned silver and bronze, respectively.
The men's horizontal bar event was part of the gymnastics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. It was one of nine gymnastics events and it was contested for the third time after 1896 and 1904. The competition was held on Saturday, July 19, 1924. Seventy-two gymnasts from nine nations competed. The event was won by Leon Štukelj of Yugoslavia, with Jean Gutweninger of Switzerland taking silver and André Higelin of France bronze. It was the first medal in the horizontal bar for each of those nations.
The men's artistic individual all-around event was part of the gymnastics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. It was one of nine gymnastics events and it was contested for the sixth time. The competition was held from Thursday, 17 July 1924, to Wednesday, 23 July 1924. Seventy-two gymnasts from nine nations competed. Each nation could send up to 8 gymnasts, up from 6 in previous Games. For the first time since 1904, the scores for individual competitors were used to calculate a team score. The men's artistic individual all-around was won by Leon Štukelj of Yugoslavia. Czechoslovakia's Robert Pražák took silver, while Bedřich Šupčík earned bronze. Both nations were making their debut in the event.
The men's parallel bars event was part of the gymnastics programme at the 1932 Summer Olympics. It was contested for the fifth time after 1896, 1904, 1924, and 1928. The competition was held on Friday, August 12, 1932. Fifteen gymnasts from six nations competed. Each nation was limited to three gymnasts. The event was won by Romeo Neri of Italy, the nation's first victory in the men's parallel bars. István Pelle earned Hungary's first medal in the event with his silver, while Heikki Savolainen similarly earned Finland's first medal with his bronze.
The men's horizontal bar event was part of the gymnastics programme at the 1932 Summer Olympics. It was contested for the fifth time after 1896, 1904, 1924, and 1928. The competition was held on Thursday, August 11, 1932. Twelve gymnasts from six nations competed. Each nation was limited to three gymnasts. The event was won by Dallas Bixler of the United States, the nation's first victory in the men's horizontal bar since 1904 and second overall. Heikki Savolainen and Einari Teräsvirta of Finland tied for second; the two agreed that Savolainen would take silver and Teräsvirta bronze. They were the first medals for Finland in the horizontal bar.
The men's horizontal bar event was part of the gymnastics programme at the 1928 Summer Olympics. It was one of seven gymnastics events for men and it was contested for the fourth time after 1896, 1904, and 1924. Scores from the horizontal bar event were added to the results from other individual apparatus events to give aggregate scores for the individual and team all-around events. There were 86 gymnasts from 11 nations, with each nation having a team of up to 8 gymnasts. The event was won by Georges Miez of Switzerland, the nation's first victory in the men's horizontal bar. The silver medal went to Romeo Neri of Italy, with Eugen Mack of Switzerland earning bronze.
