Gymnastics is a sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication 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 or 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 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.
Gymnastics at the 1956 Summer Olympics was represented by 15 events: 7 for women and 8 for men. All events were held at the West Melbourne Stadium between December 3 and December 7. It is located some 3.4 km north-west of the main Olympic venue, Melbourne Cricket Ground, and named Festival Hall as of 2006.
At the 1988 Summer Olympics, two different gymnastics disciplines were contested: artistic gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics. The artistic gymnastics events were held at the Olympic Gymnastics Hall in Seoul from September 18 through 25th. The rhythmic gymnastics events were held at the same venue from September 28 through 30th.
The women's 10 metre platform was one of eight diving events included in the Diving at the 2004 Summer Olympics programme.
This is a general glossary of the terms used in the sport of gymnastics.
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.
Women's rhythmic individual all-around competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held at the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium.
The women's duet synchronized swimming event at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held from August 18 to 20, at the Beijing National Aquatics Center.
These are the results of the rhythmic individual all-around competition, the only Rhythmic Gymnastic event at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Girl's rhythmic individual all-around competition at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics was held at the Bishan Sports Hall.
Girl's rhythmic team all-around competition at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics was held at the Bishan Sports Hall.
The women's rhythmic group all-around competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics was held at the Wembley Arena from 9–12 August.
The girls' rhythmic individual all-around at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics was held on August 26–27 at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre. There were two rounds of competition in the individual competition. In each round, competing gymnasts performed four routines. One routine was performed with each of the four apparatus: rope, hoop, ball and clubs. The combined scores from the four routines made up the preliminary qualifications round score. The top eight gymnasts after the preliminary round advanced to the finals. There, they performed each routine again. Scores from the preliminary will not be carried over, the gymnasts start back their routines with maximum of D10/E10 in base value.
The girls' rhythmic group all-around at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics was held on August 26–27 at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre.
The women's rhythmic group all-around competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held at the Rio Olympic Arena.
The Women's rhythmic group all-around competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics were held at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo, Japan, with the qualification taking place at 7 August and the final on 8 August.
The Women's rhythmic individual all-around competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo, Japan, with the qualification taking place on 6 August and the final on 7 August.
