The horizontal bar, also known as the high bar, is an apparatus used by male gymnasts in artistic gymnastics. It traditionally consists of a cylindrical metal bar that is rigidly held above and parallel to the floor by a system of cables and stiff vertical supports. Gymnasts typically wear suede leather grips while performing on the bar. Current elite-level competition uses a stainless steel core rail. The gymnastics elements performed on the horizontal bar are regulated by a Code of Points. A bar routine, which is a sequence of several bar skills, usually includes giants with various grips, in-bar work, turns, release and regrasp skills, and a dismount. The horizontal bar is often considered one of the most exciting gymnastics events due to the power exhibited by gymnasts during giant swings and spectacular aerial releases and dismounts that often include multiple flips or twists and, in some cases, airborne travel over the bar.
Parallel bars are floor apparatus consisting of two wooden bars slightly over 11 feet (340 cm) long and positioned at roughly head height. Parallel bars are used in artistic gymnastics and also for physical therapy and home exercise. Gymnasts may optionally wear grips when performing a routine on the parallel bars, although this is uncommon.
Vlasios Maras is a Greek gymnast.
Carl August Berthold Schuhmann was a German athlete who won four Olympic titles in gymnastics and wrestling at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, becoming the most successful athlete at the inaugural Olympics of the modern era. He also competed in weightlifting.
Hermann Otto Ludwig Weingärtner was a German gymnast.
George Louis Eyser was a German-American gymnast who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics, earning six medals in one day, including three gold and two silver medals. Eyser competed with a wooden prosthesis for a left leg, having lost his leg after being run over by a train. Despite his disability, he won gold in the vault, an event which then included a jump over a long horse without aid of a springboard.
Zou Kai is a five-time Olympic and five-time World champion Chinese gymnast, specializing in floor exercise and the horizontal bar.
Fabian Hambüchen is a retired German gymnast who was a four-time Olympian and was Olympic, World, and European champion. Fabian also won gold medals at European Games and at 2015 Summer Universiade. He has a full set of Olympics medals, one in each colour, as he is the 2016 Olympic champion, 2012 Olympic silver medalist and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist on the individual horizontal bar event. He became World champion on horizontal bar in 2007 Stuttgart.
Holger Behrendt is a German gymnast and Olympic champion.
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.
Kōhei Uchimura is a retired Japanese artistic gymnast. He is a seven-time Olympic medalist, winning three golds and four silvers, and a twenty-one-time World medalist.
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.
Danell Johan Leyva is a Cuban–American former gymnast who competed for the United States. He is the 2012 Olympic individual all-around bronze medalist and 2016 Olympic parallel bars and horizontal bar silver medalist. He is also the 2011 US national all-around gold medalist and the 2011 world champion on the parallel bars. With a combined total of 8 Olympic and World Championships medals, Leyva is the second most decorated American male gymnast after Paul Hamm.
The men's horizontal bar competition was one of eight events for male competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. 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 Takashi Ono of Japan, with his countryman Masao Takemoto taking bronze. Silver went to Yuri Titov of the Soviet Union. Japan and the Soviet Union each earned their first horizontal bar medals.
The men's horizontal bar competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics was held at the North Greenwich Arena on 28 July and 7 August. It featured 70 competitors from 33 nations.
The men's horizontal bar competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held at the HSBC Arena on 6 and 16 August. There were 71 competitors from 34 nations. The event was won by Fabian Hambüchen of Germany, the nation's first victory in the horizontal bar since 1996 and third overall. Danell Leyva won the United States' third silver medal in four Games in the event; Nile Wilson's bronze was Great Britain's first-ever medal in the horizontal bar.
Tin Srbić is a Croatian artistic gymnast. He is the 2017 World champion on the horizontal bar and the first Croatian to win a gold medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. He is also the 2020 Olympic, 2019 World, and two-time European silver medalist on the horizontal bar. He is the second Croatian gymnast to win an Olympic medal, after Filip Ude. He has won nine gold medals on the FIG World Cup series. He was named the Croatian Sportsman of the Year in 2017, 2019, and 2021.
The men's horizontal bar competition at the 1952 Summer Olympics was held at Töölö Sports Hall, Exhibition Hall I from 19 to 21 July. It was the eighth appearance of the event. There were 185 competitors from 29 nations, with each nation sending up to 8 gymnasts. The event was won by Jack Günthard of Switzerland, the nation's second consecutive and third overall victory in the horizontal bar, breaking a tie with the United States for most all-time. Switzerland also took one of the silver medals, as Josef Stalder tied with Alfred Schwarzmann of Germany, competing at the age of 40, for second. Stalder and Schwarzmann were the first two men to win multiple horizontal bars medals; Stalder had won the event in 1948 and Schwarzmann had earned bronze in 1936.
Daiki Hashimoto is a Japanese artistic gymnast. Widely regarded as the successor of Kohei Uchimura, he won two gold medals at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in all-around and horizontal bar, as well as a silver in team. At the World Championships, he also achieved 1 gold, 5 silvers and 1 bronze.
John Brody Malone is an American artistic gymnast who represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He is the 2022 World Champion on horizontal bar and is the 2021 and 2022 U.S. National Champion. He is a ten-time NCAA National Champion and is the 2021 World Championships bronze medalist on horizontal bar.
