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 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.
Tatiana Gutsu, rarely Tetiana Hutsu, is a Ukrainian former artistic gymnast from the Soviet Union and the winner of the all-around title in the 1992 Summer Olympics. She was renowned for performing some of the most difficult routines in the sport. She was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2022.
A somersault is an acrobatic exercise in which a person's body rotates 360° around a horizontal axis with the feet passing over the head. A somersault can be performed forwards, backwards or sideways and can be executed in the air or on the ground. When performed on the ground, it is typically called a roll.
Marian Drăgulescu is a former Romanian artistic gymnast. During his senior gymnastics career he won 31 medals at Olympic Games at World and European Championships, of which eight are gold medals at the World Championships and ten are gold medals at European Championships. Drăgulescu's strongest events were vault and floor, on which he was a multiple world champion and Olympic medalist. The handspring double front somersault with ½ turn is named after him in the Code of Points. In the all-around, Drăgulescu was the European champion (2004) and bronze medalist (2000) and placed 8th at the 2004 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.
Courtney Lynn McCool-Griffeth is an American former artistic gymnast who competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics. She was coached by Al and Armine Fong of Great American Gymnastic Express.
A handspring is an acrobatic move in which a person executes a complete revolution of the body by lunging headfirst from an upright position into an inverted vertical position and then pushing off from the floor with the hands so as to leap back to an upright position. The direction of body rotation in a handspring may be either forward or backward, and either kind may be performed from a stationary standing position or while in motion.
Chellsie Marie Memmel is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2005 world all-around champion and the 2003 world champion on the uneven bars. She was a member of the United States women's gymnastics team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.
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.
Mo Huilan is a retired Chinese gymnast who competed at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. She was one of China's most successful gymnasts in the 1990s. She was known for performing routines of exceptional difficulty and technique, but also for inconsistency.
A full twisting layout, also called a full twist or a full, is a gymnastics move. The layout requires an extended body while flipping upside down; while the full-twist requires a 360-degree rotation, Because it combines flipping and twisting simultaneously, it is an advanced move.
This is a general glossary of the terms used in the sport of gymnastics.
Bridget Elizabeth Sloan is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2009 world champion in the all-around, the 2009 United States national champion, and a silver medalist with the American team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Qiao Ya is a retired Chinese artistic gymnast. She was the 1994 Asian Games All-Around Champion, a finalist on balance beam at the 1994 and 1995 World Gymnastics Championships, and competed at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta – where she placed 11th in the individual All-Around and 4th with the team during Team Finals.
Yana Vladimirovna Demyanchuk is a Ukrainian artistic gymnast who won gold on the balance beam at the 2009 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
The 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Antwerp, Belgium, from 30 September to 6 October 2013 at Antwerp's Sports Palace. Kōhei Uchimura won the men's individual all-around gold medal, and finished the competition with four total medals. Simone Biles won the women's individual all-around title, and also finished the competition with four medals.
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.
There are currently five elements in the Women's Artistic Gymnastics Code of Points named after American gymnast Simone Biles: two on vault, one on balance beam, and two on floor exercise.
