The vault is an artistic gymnastics apparatus which gymnasts perform on, as well as the skill performed using that apparatus. Vaulting is also the action of performing a vault. Both male and female gymnasts perform the vault. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is VT.
Early forms of the vault were invented by German Friedrich Ludwig Jahn. The apparatus itself originated as a "horse", much like the pommel horse but without the handles; it was sometimes known as the vaulting horse. The horse was set up with its long dimension perpendicular to the run for women, and parallel for men. [1] The vaulting horse was the apparatus used in the Olympics for over a century, beginning with the Men's vault in the first modern Olympics and ending with the Gymnastics at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Following the accident in 1988 and compounded by the ones in 1998 and 2000, International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) re-evaluated and changed the apparatus, citing both safety reasons and the desire to facilitate more impressive acrobatics. [1] The 2001 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were the first international competition to make use of the "vaulting table", an apparatus made by Dutch gymnastics equipment company Janssen-Fritsen since the mid-1990s. It features a flat, larger, and more cushioned surface almost parallel to the floor, which slopes downward at the end closest to the springboard; gymnasts nicknamed it the "tongue"; [1] it appears to be somewhat safer than the old apparatus. [2]
The running speed is correlated with the difficulty of vault performed, with a stronger correlation for women than men, who may not maximize their sprint speed to achieve even the most difficult vaults. [5]
Training for vaults can include plyometric training. [6]
The horse has been blamed for several serious accidents over the years. In 1988, American Julissa Gomez was paralyzed in a vaulting accident; she died from complications from her injuries three years later. [7] During warmups at the 1998 Goodwill Games, Chinese gymnast Sang Lan fell and suffered paralysis from a cervical-spine injury. [8] In a series of crashes when the horse's height was set too low at the 2000 Olympics, gymnasts either rammed into the horse's front end, or had bad landings after having problems with their hand placements during push-off. [9]
In 2007, Dutch junior gymnast Imke Glas was seriously injured after a fall on a vault. [10]
A 2021 study suggested that landing scoring criteria for vault in women's gymnastics increased the risk of injury compared to the criteria in men's gymnastics. [11] Both this study and an earlier one from 2015 recommended allowing more flexion at the knees during landing to reduce impact-related injuries. [11] [12]
To perform a vault, the gymnast runs down a runway (the run), which is usually padded or carpeted. They hurdle onto a springboard and spring onto the vault with their hands (the preflight or first flight, and block). For vaults in the Yurchenko family, the gymnast will put their hands onto a mat that is placed before the springboard, round-off onto the board, and do a back handspring onto the vault. The off-flight may be as simple as leaping over the apparatus or as complicated as executing several twists and turns in the air. The gymnast then lands on the mat on the other side of the apparatus.
Gymnasts are expected to land cleanly, with no hops or steps, and within a set landing zone on the landing mat. [13] [14] They must also demonstrate good technique and execution in the actual vault. Falling or stepping on landing incurs deduction, as will lack of height off the table, or distance from the table. [14] [15]
Gymnasts (both male and female) show one vault in Qualification, Team Final, and All Around Final. If the gymnast wishes to qualify for vault apparatus finals, they must perform a second vault during qualifications. [14] [16] In the Apparatus Finals gymnasts must also show two vaults. [14] [16] For men, the two vaults must be from different element groups, [16] while women must show two vaults with different repulsion and flight phase from the vault table. [14]
Because the vault is completed so quickly it helps if there are cameras to play back in slow motion if they are unsure or if all the judges have a wide range of scores. Judges look through four main phases: the pre-flight, support, after-flight, and landing. The overall vault of a gymnast should have power and speed, while being explosive and precise as possible. [17]
A woman's competition score is the combined average score of the two vaults she performs. Scoring has become very different in these past years. No event is scored out of ten. The new system was designed in 2005. The judges evaluate the projected difficulty of the routine and the actual skills executed to determine the final score. The projected difficulty is increased with every skill included. Each skill has its own value; the harder the skill the higher the start value. The execution is out of 10.0, looking at the form, height, length, and the landing. [17] Then in 2009, FIG made some changes to put less emphasis on the difficulty and reduce the amount of skills required, making the gymnasts focus harder on perfect execution of the vault. [18]
Vault styles are broken into various groups or families. In order to compete in a vault final, a gymnast must perform two vaults from different groups whose second flight phase is not identical. [19] [20]
Vault groups (men)There are four vault categories for men: [19]
| Vault groups (women)There are five vault categories for women: [20]
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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.
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 beam is a small, thin beam which is typically raised from the floor on a leg or stand at both ends. The balance beam is only performed competitively by female gymnasts. Beams are usually covered with leather-like material and are only four inches wide.
Trampolining or trampoline gymnastics is a competitive Olympic sport in which athletes perform acrobatics while bouncing on a trampoline. In competition, these can include simple jumps in the straight, pike, tuck, or straddle position to more complex combinations of forward and/or backward somersaults and twists. Scoring is based on the difficulty and on the total seconds spent in the air. Points are deducted for bad form and horizontal displacement from the center of the bed.
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.
Parallel bars are floor apparatus consisting of two wooden bars slightly over 3.4 metres (11 ft) 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.
The uneven bars or asymmetric bars is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. It is made of a steel frame. The bars are made of fiberglass with wood coating, or less commonly wood. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is UB or AB, and the apparatus and event are often referred to simply as "bars". The bars are placed at different heights and widths, allowing the gymnast to transition from bar to bar. A gymnast usually adds white chalk to the hands so that they can grip the bar better.
Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates all aspects of elite international competition. Within individual countries, gymnastics is regulated by national federations like British Gymnastics and USA Gymnastics. Artistic gymnastics is a popular spectator sport at many competitions, including the Summer Olympic Games.
The Code of Points is a rulebook that defines the scoring system for each level of competition in gymnastics. There is not a universal international Code of Points, and every oversight organization — such as the FIG, NCAA Gymnastics, and most national gymnastics federations — designs and employs its own unique Code of Points.
Mats are used for safety in gymnastics, and in training new skills. They are usually a piece of foam ranging from 1.5 to 28 inches thick, covered in a vinyl or plastic lining. The foam ranges in density from relatively firm to very soft.
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.
Julissa D'Anne Gomez was an American gymnast whose rapid rise through the ranks of elite gymnastics in the mid-1980s was cut short by a vaulting accident in 1988 that left her a quadriplegic. She eventually died from her injury. She was being coached by Al Fong, and had previously been coached by Bela Karolyi.
Yurchenko, also known as round-off entry vaults, are a family of vaults performed in artistic gymnastics in which the gymnast does a round-off onto the springboard and a back handspring onto the horse or vaulting table. The gymnast then performs a salto, which may range in difficulty from a simple single tuck to a triple twist layout. Different variations in the difficulty of the salto lead to higher D-scores. This family of vaults is the most common type of vault in gymnastics and it's named after Natalia Yurchenko, who first performed it in 1982.
Tumbling, sometimes referred to as power tumbling, is a gymnastics discipline in which participants perform a series of acrobatic skills down a 25 metres (82 ft) long sprung track. Each series, known as a pass, comprises eight elements in which the athlete jumps, twists and flips placing only their hands and feet on the track. Tumblers are judged on the difficulty and form of their routine. There are both individual and team competitions in the sport.
This is a general glossary of the terms used in the sport of gymnastics.
Ri Se-gwang is a retired North Korean artistic gymnast, representing the April 25 Sports Club. He is often considered a specialist on vault apparatus in the sport of men’s artistic gymnastics (MAG).
The men's vault event was part of the gymnastics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. It was one of nine gymnastics events and it was contested for the third time after 1896 and 1904. The competition was held on Monday, July 21, 1924. Seventy gymnasts from nine nations competed. The eight members of each nation's gymnastics team all competed; Czechoslovakia only had six competitors start the vault. The event was won by Frank Kriz of the United States, the nation's second consecutive victory in the event. Jan Koutný and Bohumil Mořkovský of Czechoslovakia took silver and bronze, respectively, the nation's first medals in the event.
Kenzō Shirai is a Japanese men's former athlete of artistic gymnastics (AG). Born in Yokohama, Kanagawa, he, a graduate of Kishine High School, joined the Nippon Sport Science University (Nittaidai). Shirai took the team gold, and a bronze on individual vault with the Japanese men's AG (MAG) national team at the 2016 Summer Olympics (OG) in Rio de Janeiro while more major wins were from the World Championships (WC).
Dipa Karmakar is an Indian Gymnast from Tripura State. She is the first female gymnast from India to compete in the Olympics. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, in the vault event final, she finished in 4th place.
The handspring double salto forward tucked, known as a Produnova in women's artistic gymnastics and a Roche in men's artistic gymnastics, is a vault consisting of a front handspring onto the vaulting horse and two front somersaults in a tucked position off it.
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