The balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus and an event performed using the apparatus. Both the apparatus and the event are sometimes simply referred to as "beam". The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is BB. The balance beam is only performed competitively by female gymnasts.
Cătălina Ponor is a Romanian former artistic gymnast who competed at three Summer Olympic Games: 2004, 2012, and 2016. She won three gold medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens on balance beam, floor and as part of the Romanian team. She also earned a silver medal on floor and bronze medal as part of the Romanian team at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, as well as multiple World Championship and European Championship medals. She announced her plans to retire from gymnastics after the 2017 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, in Montreal. During her career, she won 23 Olympic, World and European medals. More than half of them (12) were gold medals. She was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2022.
Sandra Raluca Izbașa is a retired artistic gymnast from Romania. She is a double Olympic champion, having won the floor event at the 2008 Olympics and vault at the 2012 Olympics. She is also a winner of two Olympic bronze medals and multiple World Championship and European Championship medals.
Lauren Stephanie Mitchell is an Australian former artistic gymnast. She is the 2010 World champion on the floor exercise and the 2009 World Championships silver medalist on the balance beam and floor exercise. Mitchell is only the second Australian female gymnast to win a medal at the World Championships, and she is the first to win a gold medal. She is the 2010 Commonwealth Games champion in the all-around, uneven bars, and balance beam, and with the Australian team, and she is the 2008 World Cup Final balance beam champion. She also represented Australia at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.
Brittany Rogers is a Canadian artistic gymnast who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She attended the University of Georgia and competed for the Georgia Gym Dogs. Consequently, combining both elite and college gymnastics without deferral, Rogers is one of very few gymnasts to have undertaken this combination – vying for a spot on the 2016 Summer Olympics team.
Aliya Farkhatovna Mustafina is a Russian former artistic gymnast.
Larisa Andreea Iordache is a Romanian former artistic gymnast. She represented Romania at the 2012 Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal with the team, and at the 2020 Olympic Games.
Phan Thị Hà Thanh is a retired Vietnamese artistic gymnast from Haiphong and a two-time Olympian. She is currently the most decorated and successful gymnast from Vietnam on the international stage. She became the first gymnast to win a world medal for Vietnam, capturing the bronze on vault at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
Kristina Vaculik is a Canadian artistic gymnast who represented Canada at the 2012 Summer Olympics. In 2011–2012, Vaculik took a year off from Stanford University, which she attended on a gymnastics scholarship, in order to train full-time for the Olympics.
Christine Jennifer Peng-Peng Lee is a retired Canadian artistic gymnast. She was a member of the Canadian team that qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics, though a knee injury prevented her from competing in the Games. She attended UCLA and led the gymnastics team to the 2018 NCAA National Championship. Lee prefers to use her Chinese name Peng Peng when doing gymnastics, saying it makes her feel like "someone completely different."
Elsabeth Ann Black is a Canadian artistic gymnast. She is a three-time Olympian, having represented her country at the 2012, 2016, and 2020 Olympic Games. She is the 2017 World all-around silver medalist, making her the first Canadian gymnast to win a world all-around medal, and she led the Canadian women's gymnastics team to a bronze medal in the 2022 World Championships team final, the first world team medal won by a Canadian gymnastics team. She won a silver medal on the balance beam at the 2022 World Championships. She is also the 2018 Commonwealth Games all-around champion, a two-time Pan American Games all-around champion, and a six-time Canadian national all-around champion. At the 2020 Olympic Games, Black placed fourth in the balance beam final, the highest placement in the Olympics for a female Canadian gymnast.
Dominique Pegg is a Canadian artistic gymnast and competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Maria Aleksandrovna Kharenkova is a retired Russian-Georgian artistic gymnast. She is the 2014 European champion on the balance beam.
Olha Rozshchupkina is a Ukrainian former artistic gymnast. She competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics, where she placed 7th in the all-around and 6th in the uneven bars event final.
Rebeca Rodrigues de Andrade is a Brazilian artistic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic, 2021 and 2023 World champion on the vault and 2022 World all-around champion. Andrade is the first Brazilian female gymnast to medal at an Olympic Games, and she is only the second Brazilian woman to win a gold medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She is also the 2020 Olympic silver medalist, the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships silver medalist and the 2021 Pan American champion in the all-around, and won silver on the uneven bars at the 2021 World Championships, silver on the floor exercise at the 2023 World Championships, bronze on the balance beam at the 2023 World Championships and a bronze on the floor exercise at the 2022 World Championships. Andrade is one of only 11 female gymnasts to have medalled on every event in the history of World Championships, and one of only three gymnasts to have done so in the 21st century, alongside Simone Biles and Aliya Mustafina.
Sanne Wevers is a Dutch artistic gymnast. She is the 2016 Olympic champion on the balance beam and was the first Dutch female gymnast to become an Olympic champion in an individual event. She is the 2018 and 2023 European champion on the balance beam. She is also the 2015 World and 2021 European silver medalist on the balance beam and the 2015 European bronze medalist on the uneven bars. She was a member of the Dutch team that won the bronze medal at the 2018 and 2023 European Championships.
The Women's artistic gymnastics balance beam competition at the 2015 European Games was held in the National Gymnastics Arena, Baku on 20 June 2015.
Pauline Sieglinde Schäfer-Betz or Pauline Schäfer is a German artistic gymnast who represented Germany at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. She is the 2017 World Champion, the 2021 World silver medalist, and the 2015 World bronze medalist on the balance beam. She was part of the bronze medal-winning German team at the 2022 European Championships. She will represent Germany at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The women's balance beam event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held on 25 July and 3 August 2021 at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. Approximately 90 gymnasts from 53 nations are expected to compete on the balance beam in the qualifying round.
Hanna Szujó is a Hungarian artistic gymnast who represented Hungary at the inaugural Junior World Championships.
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