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 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 horizontal bar was a gymnastics event contested as part of the Gymnastics at the 1964 Summer Olympics programme at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. The event was held on 18, 20, and 23 October. There were 128 competitors from 29 nations, with nations in the team competition having up to 6 gymnasts and other nations entering up to 3 gymnasts. The event was won by Boris Shakhlin of the Soviet Union, the nation's first victory in the horizontal bar after two Games with silver and bronze medals. The Soviets also took silver, with Yuri Titov finishing second. Shakhlin and Titov were the fifth and sixth men to win multiple medals in the horizontal bar. Bronze went to Miroslav Cerar of Yugoslavia.
The men's artistic individual all-around was an artistic gymnastics event held as part of the gymnastics at the 1920 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event. The competition was held on Wednesday, 25 August 1920. 25 gymnasts from seven nations competed. Nations had been limited to 6 gymnasts each since 1912. The event was won by Giorgio Zampori of Italy, the nation's third consecutive victory in the men's individual all-around. France's Marco Torrès took silver and Jean Gounot earned bronze, stretching the French podium streak to three Games as well.
The men's horizontal bar competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held on 9 and 19 August at the Beijing National Indoor Stadium. The eight competitors with the highest scores in qualifying proceeded to the men's horizontal bar finals. There, each gymnast performed again; the scores from the final round determined final ranking. There were 76 competitors from 27 nations that competed on the horizontal bar, with nations in the team event entering up to 5 gymnasts while other nations could enter up to 2. The event was won by Zou Kai of China, the nation's first victory in the horizontal bar. Jonathan Horton won silver, the United States' second consecutive Games with a silver medalist in the horizontal bar. Germany's Fabian Hambüchen won the first of his three medals in the event with bronze.
The men's vault 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 Monday, July 21, 1924. Seventy gymnasts from nine nations competed. The eight members of each nation's gymnastics team all competed; Czechoslovakia only had six competitors start the vault. The event was won by Frank Kriz of the United States, the nation's second consecutive victory in the event. Jan Koutný and Bohumil Mořkovský of Czechoslovakia took silver and bronze, respectively, the nation's first medals in the event.
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 rope climbing 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 gymnasts from nine nations competed. The event was won by Bedřich Šupčík of Czechoslovakia. Albert Séguin of France took silver, while August Güttinger of Switzerland and Ladislav Vácha tied for bronze. All three medaling nations were making their debut in rope climbing, so they were the first medals for each in the event.
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 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. The competition was held on Thursday, August 9, 1928. Eighty-five gymnasts from eleven nations competed, with each nation having a team of up to 8 gymnasts. The event was won by Ladislav Vácha of Czechoslovakia, the nation's first victory in the men's parallel bars. The silver medal went to Josip Primožič of Yugoslavia, with Hermann Hänggi of Switzerland earning bronze.
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 competition was one of eight events for male competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The qualification and final rounds took place on July 20, 22 and 28th at the Georgia Dome. There were 105 competitors from 31 nations, with nations in the team event having up to 7 gymnasts and other nations having up to 3 gymnasts. The event was won by Andreas Wecker of Germany, the nation's first victory in the men's horizontal bar since 1896. Wecker, who had won silver four years earlier, was the ninth man to win multiple medals in the event. Silver in 1996 went to Krasimir Dunev, Bulgaria's first horizontal bar medalist since 1980. There was a three-way tie for bronze: Russia and Belarus earned medals in their first independent appearances with Alexei Nemov and Vitaly Scherbo, respectively, while Fan Bin earned China's first medal in the event since 1984.
The men's horizontal bar competition was one of eight events for male competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. The qualification and final rounds took place on September 18, 20 and 24th at the Olympic Gymnastics Hall. There were 89 competitors from 23 nations, with nations competing in the team event having 6 gymnasts and other nations having up to 3 gymnasts. There were ties for both gold and bronze medals. The Soviet Union took two golds, as Vladimir Artemov and Valeri Liukin finished even at the top spot; they were the Soviets' first gold medals in the horizontal bar since 1968, and moved the Soviet Union past the United States and Switzerland into second most all-time golds in the event. Bronze medals went to Holger Behrendt of East Germany and Marius Gherman of Romania, the first medal in the event for both nations. It was the first time since 1964 that Japanese gymnasts competed but did not win the event.
The men's horizontal bar competition was one of eight events for male competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. The qualification and final rounds took place on July 18, 20, and 23rd at the Montreal Forum. There were 90 competitors from 20 nations, with nations competing in the team event having 6 gymnasts while other nations could have up to 3 gymnasts. The event was won by Mitsuo Tsukahara of Japan, the second man to successfully defend an Olympic title in the horizontal bar. It was the third consecutive victory by a Japanese gymnast in the event, and fifth in six Games. Japan also took silver, as Eizo Kenmotsu finished second, but was prevented from repeating its 1972 podium sweep by new rules that limited nations to two gymnasts in the final. Tsukuhara and Kenmotsu were the seventh and eighth men to win multiple medals in the horizontal bar. Henri Boerio of France and Eberhard Gienger of West Germany tied for bronze, the first medal for France in the event since 1924 and first horizontal bar medal for West Germany.
The men's horizontal bar competition was one of eight events for male competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The qualification and final rounds took place on July 20, 22 and 25th at the Luzhniki Palace of Sports. There were 65 competitors from 14 nations, with nations competing in the team event having 6 gymnasts while other nations could have to up to 3 gymnasts. The event was won by Stoyan Deltchev of Bulgaria, the nation's first medal in the horizontal bar. The Soviet Union took silver and bronze, reaching the podium for the first time since 1968. Japan's three-Games gold medal streak ended, with no Japanese gymnasts competing due to the American-led boycott.
The men's horizontal bar competition was one of eight events for male competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The qualification and final rounds took place on July 29, 31 and August 4 at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion. There were 71 competitors from 19 nations, with nations competing in the team event having 6 gymnasts while other nations could have to up to 3 gymnasts. The event was won by Shinji Morisue of Japan, continuing the nation's dominant streak where it left off before the 1980 boycott. Morisue scored a perfect 20 in the event ; he was one of only three gymnasts to achieve a perfect 20 on an apparatus during the 20-point era (1952–1988). The gold medal was Japan's sixth on the horizontal bar, all within eight Games. Koji Gushiken added a bronze medal for Japan. The People's Republic of China debuted strongly, with a silver medal from Tong Fei.
The men's horizontal bar competition was one of eight events for male competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. The event was held on 22, 24, and 26 October. There were 115 competitors from 27 nations, with nations in the team competition having up to 6 gymnasts and other nations entering up to 3 gymnasts. The event was won in a tie between Akinori Nakayama of Japan and Mikhail Voronin of the Soviet Union. Eizo Kenmotsu of Japan took bronze.
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.
The men's artistic individual all-around event was part of the gymnastics programme at the 1928 Summer Olympics. It was one of seven gymnastics events for men and was the seventh Olympic men's all-around gymnastic championship. Scores from the individual apparatus events were added to give aggregate scores for the individual all-around; individual all-around scores were similarly summed for the team all-around event. There were 88 competitors from 11 nations. Each nation sent a team of 8 gymnasts. The event was won by Georges Miez of Switzerland, with his countryman Hermann Hänggi taking silver. They were the first medals in the event for Swiss gymnasts since 1904 and the first gold medal ever for a Swiss man in the individual all-around. Defending Olympic champion Leon Štukelj of Yugoslavia finished with the bronze this time, making him the third man to win multiple medals in the event.
