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 vault is an artistic gymnastics apparatus which gymnasts perform on, as well as the event performed on that apparatus. Both male and female gymnasts perform the vault. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is VT.
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 Originally made of a metal frame with a wooden body and a leather cover, the modern pommel horse has a metal body covered with foam rubber and leather, with plastic handles.
Cheng Fei is a Chinese retired artistic gymnast. She is a three-time World Champion on the vault (2005–2007) and 2006 World Champion on floor exercise. She was a member of the gold medal-winning Chinese teams for the 2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Aarhus, Denmark and 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. She was also a member of the silver medal-winning Chinese team for the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.
Mitsuo Tsukahara is a Japanese artistic gymnast. He was five times an Olympic Gold Medalist. He remained active in the sport after his retirement from competition. He served as vice president of the Japan Gymnastic Association.
The men's vault was one of the eight gymnastics events on the Gymnastics at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. The third event, it was held on 9 April. 15 athletes from five nations competed. The Germans captured the gold and bronze medals, while Zutter won the silver for Switzerland.
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 vault or "long horse vaulting" 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 Wednesday, August 10, 1932. Ten gymnasts from four nations competed. Each nation was limited to three gymnasts. The event was won by Savino Guglielmetti of Italy, the nation's first medal in the event. Americans Al Jochim and Ed Carmichael took silver and bronze, respectively.
The men's vault competition was one of eight events for male competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. The qualification and final rounds took place on September 16 and 25 at the Sydney SuperDome. There were 80 competitors from 31 nations; nations competing in the team event could have up to 5 gymnasts in the vault, while other nations could have up to 2 gymnasts. The event was won by Gervasio Deferr of Spain, the nation's first medal in the men's vault. Poland also earned its first medal in the event, with Leszek Blanik's bronze. Silver went to Alexei Bondarenko of Russia.
The men's vault competition was one of eight events for male competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. The qualification and final rounds took place on July 29 and August 2 at the Palau dels Esports de Barcelona. There were 93 competitors from 25 nations, with nations in the team event having 6 gymnasts while other nations could have up to 3 gymnasts. The event was won by Belarusian Vitaly Scherbo of the Unified Team, the first victory by a Soviet or former Soviet in the event since 1980. The silver went to Hrihoriy Misyutin, a Ukrainian also competing for the Unified Team. Yoo Ok-ryul gave South Korea its second consecutive bronze medal in the men's vault.
The men's vault 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. The event was won by Lou Yun of China, the second man to successfully defend an Olympic title in the vault and fourth man to win two medals of any color in the event. Sylvio Kroll of East Germany took the silver medal, while Park Jong-hoon of South Korea earned his nation's first men's vault medal with his bronze.
These are the results of the men's vault competition, one of eight events for male competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The qualification and final rounds took place on August 27, 29 and September 1 at the Olympiahalle. There were 111 competitors from 26 nations ; nations entering the team event had 6 gymnasts while other nations could have up to 3 gymnasts. The event was won by Klaus Köste of East Germany, the nation's first victory in the men's vault. The Soviets took silver and bronze, respectively, from Viktor Klimenko and Nikolai Andrianov respectively.
The men's vault 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 Nikolai Andrianov of the Soviet Union, the first man to successfully defend an Olympic title in the vault. Andrianov was also the first man to win a third medal in the event, with a bronze in 1972 along with his 1976 and 1980 gold medals. For the eighth consecutive Games, the Soviets had a gymnast in the top two in vault; this time, they had both the top two, as Alexander Dityatin took silver. Roland Brückner of East Germany earned bronze.
The men's vault 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 Lou Yun of China, in the nation's debut in the Games.
The men's vault competition was one of eight events for male competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. The event was held from 22 to 26 October at the Auditorio Nacional. There were 116 competitors from 28 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 Mikhail Voronin of the Soviet Union, the nation's fourth gold medal in the vault. Yukio Endo of Japan took silver, while Soviet Sergei Diomidov earned bronze.
The men's vault competition was one of eight events for male competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. It was held on 5, 7, and 10 September at the Baths of Caracalla. There were 129 competitors from 28 nations, with nations in the team competition having up to 6 gymnasts and other nations entering up to 2 gymnasts. For the second straight Games, there was a tie for first place in the vault. Boris Shakhlin of the Soviet Union and Takashi Ono of Japan each received a gold medal. It was the third consecutive Games with a gold medal for the Soviets. Ono, who had taken bronze in 1952, became the second man to win multiple vault medals. Third place and the bronze medal went to Soviet Vladimir Portnoi.
The men's vault competition was one of eight events for male competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. It was held from 3 to 7 December at the Melbourne Festival Hall. There were 63 competitors from 18 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 Helmut Bantz of the United Team of Germany and Valentin Muratov of the Soviet Union, who tied for the top place. Soviet Yuri Titov finished third to win the bronze medal.
The men's vault competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics was held at the Waldbühne on 10 August. It was the sixth appearance of the event. There were 110 competitors from 14 nations, with each nation sending a team of up to 8 men. The event was won by Alfred Schwarzmann of Germany, the nation's first victory in the event since 1896 and second overall. Eugen Mack of Switzerland earned silver, the first man to win multiple medals in the event. Another member of the host German team, Matthias Volz, took bronze.
The men's vault competition at the 1948 Summer Olympics was held at Earls Court Exhibition Centre on 12 and 13 August. It was the seventh appearance of the event. There were 120 competitors from 16 nations, with each nation sending a team of up to 8 gymnasts. The event was won by Paavo Aaltonen of Finland with fellow Finn Olavi Rove finishing second; the medals were the nation's first in the men's vault. There was a three-way tie for third place resulting in three bronze medals being awarded to János Mogyorósi-Klencs and Ferenc Pataki of Hungary and Leo Sotorník of Czechoslovakia.
The vault is an artistic gymnastics event held at the Summer Olympics. The event was first held for men at the first modern Olympics in 1896. It was held again in 1904, but not in 1900, 1908, 1912, or 1920 when no apparatus events were awarded medals. The vault was one of the components of the men's artistic individual all-around in 1900, however. The men's vault returned as a medal event in 1924 and has been held every Games since. Vault scores were included in the individual all-around for 1924 and 1928, with no separate apparatus final. In 1932, the vault was entirely separate from the all-around. From 1936 to 1956, there were again no separate apparatus finals with the vault scores used in the all-around. The women's vault was added in 1952 and has been held every Games since. Beginning in 1960, there were separate apparatus finals.
