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.
In gymnastics, the floor is a specially prepared exercise surface, which is considered an apparatus. It is used by both male and female gymnasts. The gymnastics event performed on the floor is called floor exercise. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is FX.
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.
The ball is an apparatus used in rhythmic gymnastics. It is made of either rubber or synthetic material provided it possesses the same elasticity as rubber. It is 18 to 20 centimetres in diameter and must have a minimum weight of 400 grams (14 oz). The ball can be of any colour. The ball should rest in the gymnast's hand and not rest against the wrist or be able to be grasped.
This is a general glossary of the terms used in the sport of gymnastics.
Evgeniya Olegovna Kanaeva OMF is a Russian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the only individual rhythmic gymnast in history to win two Olympic all-around gold medals, winning at the 2008 Summer Olympics, where she finished with 3.75 points ahead of silver medalist Inna Zhukova, and at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she also became the oldest gymnast to win the Olympic gold. On 4 July 2013, Kanaeva received the International Fair Play Award for "Sport and Life".
Yanina "Yana" Farkhadovna Batyrshina is a former individual rhythmic gymnast who competed for Russia. She is the 1996 Olympics All-around silver medalist, two time (1995,1997) World All-around bronze medalist, two-time European All-around silver medalist, the 1998 European All-around bronze medalist and 1996 Grand Prix Final All-around champion.
The Artistic Gymnastics World Cup is a competition series for artistic gymnastics sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). It is one of the few tournaments in artistic gymnastics officially organized by FIG, as well as the World Championships and the gymnastics competitions at the Olympic Games and the Youth Olympics. Beginning in the 2017-2020 quadrennium, the All-Around and Individual Apparatus World Cup series are used to qualify a maximum of seven spots to the Olympic Games.
Gymnastics is one of the sports at the quadrennial Commonwealth Games.
Son Yeon Jae KTM is a retired South Korean individual rhythmic gymnast. She is a former member of the South Korean national gymnastics team, based in Taereung, Seoul. Son is the 2014 Asian Games All-around Champion, the 2010 Asian Games All-around bronze medalist, three-time Asian Championships All-around Champion. She is the first and only South Korean individual rhythmic gymnast to win a medal at the World Championships, FIG World Cup series, Universiade and the Asian Games.
The Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup is a competition for rhythmic gymnastics sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). It is one of the few tournaments in rhythmic gymnastics officially organized by FIG, as well as the World Championships, the gymnastics competitions at the Olympic Games and the Youth Olympics, and the rhythmic gymnastics events at the World Games. The World Cup series should not be confused with the Rhythmic Gymnastics Grand Prix series, which is neither officially organized nor promoted by FIG.
The Rhythmic Gymnastics Grand Prix circuit is an annual competition of tournaments in rhythmic gymnastics open to gymnasts from all over the globe. The series consists of a number of stages in different countries in Europe. The Grand Prix circuit usually hosts some of the most watched yearly events in rhythmic gymnastics, frequently gathering some of the best gymnasts in the world. Each Grand Prix stage is held as an all-around qualification competition, followed by four apparatus finals with hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon. The final event in the circuit is commonly referred to as Grand Prix Final. The focus in each stage is on individual performances, though groups have also been allowed to compete in some stages since, at least, 1995. The Grand Prix circuit should not be confused with the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup series, which is a competition officially organized by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), whereas the Grand Prix is neither organized nor promoted by FIG.
Rut Castillo Galindo is a Mexican individual rhythmic gymnast. She represented Mexico at the 2020 Summer Olympics and became the first Mexican, and LGBTQ+ rhythmic gymnast to compete at an Olympic Games. She is the 2021 Pan American all-around champion. At the 2007 Pan American Games, she won the silver medal in hoop and the bronze medals in the all-around and clubs. She is an eight-time Central American and Caribbean Games champion. She has also competed at nine World Championships.
Alexandra Ana Maria Agiurgiuculese is a Romanian-Italian individual rhythmic gymnast who represents Italy. She is a World Championships silver and bronze medalist, and competed at the 2020 Olympic Games. She is the first Italian gymnast to win the Longines Prize for Elegance. She is a four-time medalist at the 2016 European Junior Championships. At the national level, she is the 2019 Italian National All-around champion, three-time Italian National All-around silver medalist.
Sumire Kita is a retired Japanese individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2016 Asian Junior all-around champion, the 2022 Asian Senior all-around silver medalist, two-time Japanese National Junior champion, and four-time Japanese National senior champion.
Khrystyna Oleksandrivna Pohranychna is a Ukrainian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2018 Youth Olympic Games all-around silver medalist, a 2020 Olympic Games all-around finalist, and a four-time medalist at the 2018 European Junior Championships. She is the 2017 and 2018 junior national all-around champion and the 2019 and 2021 national all-around silver medalist.
The 2019 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Baku, Azerbaijan from 16 to 22 September 2019. The competition took place at the National Gymnastics Arena and served as a qualifier for the 2020 Olympic Games. There were Olympic berths awarded to 16 individuals and 5 groups. There were 301 participating athletes from 61 countries.
Viktoriia Maksimivna Onopriienko is a Ukrainian individual rhythmic gymnast. She competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, finishing tenth in the all-around final. She is the 2020 Grand Prix Final all-around champion and the 2022 World Games ribbon bronze medalist. She is the 2021 Ukrainian all-around champion. At the junior level, she is the 2018 European team silver medalist.
Stiliana Nikolova is a Bulgarian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2022 World all-around bronze medalist and hoop, clubs, and ribbon silver medalist, the 2023 World ball bronze medalist and team competition champion, and a two-time European all-around bronze medalist and champion in the team competition. She is also the 2020 European Junior ribbon champion and ball silver medalist.
The 2021 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships were held from 27 to 31 October 2021 in Kitakyushu, Japan.
