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.
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.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, three disciplines of gymnastics were contested: artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline. The artistic gymnastics and trampoline events were held at the Olympic Indoor Hall and the rhythmic gymnastics events were held at the Galatsi Olympic Hall.
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.
At the 1980 Summer Olympics, fourteen different artistic gymnastics events were contested, eight for men and six for women. All events were held at the Sports Palace of the Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow from July 20 through 25th. Several teams who had qualified to compete were absent as a result of the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott, including the United States, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, and West Germany.
At the 1976 Summer Olympics, fourteen different artistic gymnastics events were contested, eight for men and six for women. All events were held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal from July 18 through 23.
At the 1972 Summer Olympics, fourteen different artistic gymnastics events were contested, eight for men and six for women. All events were held at the Sports Hall in Munich from 27 August through 1 September.
At the 1984 Summer Olympics, two different gymnastics disciplines were contested. In addition to the fourteen artistic gymnastics events contested, for the first time at the Olympics, a rhythmic gymnastics event was contested–the women's individual all-around. All of the gymnastics events were held at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles from July 29 through August 11. Several teams who had qualified to compete were absent as a result of the 1984 Summer Olympics boycott, including the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, and North Korea.
At the 1992 Summer Olympics, two different gymnastics were contested: artistic gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics. The artistic gymnastics events were held at the Palau Sant Jordi from July 26 through August 2. The rhythmic gymnastics event were held at the Palau dels Esports de Barcelona from August 6 through 8th.
The men's vault competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held on August 9 and 18 at the Beijing National Indoor Stadium. The eight competitors with the highest scores in qualifying, among the gymnasts electing to make two vaults, proceeded to the men's vault finals. There, each gymnast performed two vaults; the scores from the final round determined final ranking. There were 16 competitors from 13 nations that made a second vault attempt. The event was won by Leszek Blanik of Poland, the nation's first victory in the men's vault. Blanik was the seventh man to win multiple medals in the event, adding to his 2000 bronze. France earned its first medal in the event with Thomas Bouhail's silver. Anton Golotsutskov of Russia took bronze, putting the nation back on the podium after a one-Games absence.
The men's pommel horse competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held on August 17 at the Beijing National Indoor Stadium. The eight competitors with the highest scores in qualifying proceeded to the men's pommel horse finals. There, each gymnast performed again; the scores from the final round determined the final ranking. There were 76 competitors from 27 nations that competed on the pommel horse, with nations in the team event entering up to 5 gymnasts while other nations could enter up to 2. The event was won by Xiao Qin of China, the nation's second consecutive and third overall victory in the pommel horse. The other two medals went to nations that had never earned a medal in the event before: Filip Ude of Croatia took silver while Louis Smith of Great Britain finished with bronze.
The men's rings competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held on August 18 at the Beijing National Indoor Stadium. The eight competitors with the highest scores in qualifying proceeded to the men's rings finals. There, each gymnast performed again; the scores from the final round determined final ranking. There were 70 competitors from 25 nations that competed on the rings, with nations in the team event entering up to 5 gymnasts while other nations could enter up to 2. The event was won by Chen Yibing of China, the nation's first victory in the rings since 1984. Yang Wei, also of China, took silver. Bronze went to Oleksandr Vorobiov, the nation's first medal in the event.
The men's parallel bars competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held on August 9 and 19 at the Beijing National Indoor Stadium. The eight competitors with the highest scores in qualifying proceeded to the men's parallel bars finals. There, each gymnast performed again; the scores from the final round determined the final ranking. There were 75 competitors from 27 nations that competed on the parallel bars, with nations in the team event entering up to 5 gymnasts while other nations could enter up to 2. The event was won by Li Xiaopeng of China, the first man to win three medals in the parallel bars as well as the first man to win two non-consecutive gold medals in the same apparatus. Yoo Won-Chul of South Korea took silver. Anton Fokin won Uzbekistan's first parallel bars medal in its debut as an independent nation.
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 individual all-around 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 22nd at the Olympic Gymnastics Hall. There were 89 competitors from 23 nations. Each nation could send a team of 6 gymnasts or up to 3 individual gymnasts. The event was won by Vladimir Artemov of the Soviet Union, the nation's sixth victory in the event. The Soviets swept the medals, with Valeri Liukin taking silver and Dmitri Bilozertchev bronze. It was the third medal sweep in the men's all-around; France had done it in 1900 and Japan in 1972.
The men's vault event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held on 24 July and 2 August 2021 at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. Unlike the other apparatus events, vault requires gymnasts to perform two exercises in order for results to count towards the vault final; most of the gymnasts perform only one or none. Approximately 20 gymnasts from 15 nations competed two vaults in the qualifying round.
The women's vault event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held on 25 July and 1 August 2021 at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. Unlike the other apparatus events, vault requires gymnasts to perform two exercises in order for results to count towards the vault final; most of the gymnasts perform only one or none. Approximately 20 gymnasts from 15 nations competed two vaults in the qualifying round.
These are the results of the men's team all-around competition, one of eight events for male competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
The Gymnastics competitions in the 1983 Summer Universiade were held in Edmonton, Canada.
