Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, 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.
Yuri Nikolayevich Korolyov was a Soviet artistic gymnast who competed during the 1980s, winning many World and European Medals. Part of a deep Soviet team that, throughout the 1980s, featured such names as Dmitry Bilozerchev, Valeri Liukin, Vladimir Artemov, Valentin Mogilny, and others, Korolyov still managed to distinguish himself for the greater part of the decade by becoming World All-Around Champion in 1981 and 1985, as well as being World Cup All-Around Co-Champion in 1986, among many other titles and medals.
Yuri Sergeyevich Ryazanov was a Russian artistic gymnast. He was the 2009 World All-Around bronze medalist, the 2009 Russian All-Around national champion, and the 2007 & 2009 European All-Around bronze medalist. He was a member of the Russian teams that won the gold medals at the 2008 European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships and silver at the 2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. Ryazanov competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, placing 17th in the All-Around qualification.
Jonathan Alan Horton is a former American artistic gymnast. He is the 2008 Olympic silver medalist on high bar, the 2010 World all-around bronze medalist, a two-time Olympian, a two-time U.S. National All-Around Champion, and a 17-time medalist at the U.S. National Championships. At the 2008 Olympics, he also won a bronze medal with his U.S. teammates in the team competition. He also competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where he qualified for the high bar event final and finished in sixth place. In 2016, he had surgery on his left rotator cuff and as a result was unable to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Stephen Raj Bhavsar is an American artistic gymnast. He was a member of the 2001 and 2003 World Championships U.S. team. He earned a bronze medal as a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. He was originally an alternate, but was named to the team following the injury withdrawal of Paul Hamm. At the Games, Bhavsar earned a bronze medal with the U.S. team in Artistic Gymnastics with teammates Alexander Artemev, Joey Hagerty, Jonathan Horton, Justin Spring, and Kai Wen Tan.
The men's rings competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held on August 18 at the Beijing National Indoor Stadium. The eight competitors with the highest scores in qualifying proceeded to the men's rings finals. There, each gymnast performed again; the scores from the final round determined final ranking. There were 70 competitors from 25 nations that competed on the rings, with nations in the team event entering up to 5 gymnasts while other nations could enter up to 2. The event was won by Chen Yibing of China, the nation's first victory in the rings since 1984. Yang Wei, also of China, took silver. Bronze went to Oleksandr Vorobiov, the nation's first medal in the event.
Epke Jan Zonderland is a Dutch artistic gymnast and the 2012 Olympic gold medallist on high bar. He is a 4-time Olympian (2008–20) and has also taken 3 World Championships golds on high bar at the 2013, 2014 and 2018 World Championships, the first man to secure this feat on that apparatus. He is nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman.”
Kōhei Uchimura is a retired Japanese artistic gymnast. He is a seven-time Olympic medalist, winning three golds and four silvers, and a 21-time World medalist.
Yuri Yevlampiyevich Titov is a former Russian gymnast, Olympic champion and four times world champion, who competed for the Soviet Union. He won a total of nine Olympic medals from three Olympic games.
Steven Legendre is an American gymnast who competed for the University of Oklahoma Sooners men's gymnastics team from 2008 to 2011 and is a member of the U.S. National Team.
Oleg Yuriyovych Verniaiev is a Ukrainian artistic gymnast. He is the 2016 Olympic parallel bars champion and individual all-around silver medalist. Verniaiev is also the 2014 World parallel bars champion, the 2015 European individual all-around champion and the 2017 European individual all-around champion.
Jeffrey Wammes is a former internationally competitive Dutch gymnast. Specializing in the floor exercise and vault, Wammes began competing on the elite level in 2005. Wammes trained alongside Yuri van Gelder at the Flik-Flak club in 's-Hertogenbosch.
Arne Van Gelder was a Belgian male professional acrobatic gymnast. Arne started competing for the Belgian Federation in 2010 and retired in 2017 after a shoulder injurie.
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.
Lieke Wevers is a Dutch artistic gymnast. She was the first Dutch woman to win a European title in gymnastics: at the 2015 European Games, she won the gold medal on the balance beam and was the bronze medalist with the Dutch team, in the individual all-around, and on floor exercise. She competed at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics and qualified for the all-around finals.
The men's rings competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held at the HSBC Arena on 6 and 15 August. There were 70 competitors from 34 nations. The event was won by Eleftherios Petrounias of Greece, the nation's first medal in the men's rings since 2004. Defending champion Arthur Zanetti of Brazil finished second, making him the 13th man to win multiple medals in the event. Denis Ablyazin earned Russia's first post-Soviet medal in the event with his bronze.
Danny Pinheiro Rodrigues is a French male artistic gymnast and a member of the national team. He was selected to compete for the French gymnastics squad in two editions of the Summer Olympic Games. He missed 2012 Olympics due to injury.
Regulo Carmona Moreno is a retired Venezuelan male artistic gymnast. Five times winner of the World Cup (2006-2007), three times champion of the Central American and Caribbean Games (2002-2010), two times Pan American champion of the discipline (2008-2010). Becoming the best rings gymnast in Latin America of his time. The 2006 and two times in 2007 rings World Cup Champion and at other several international competitions, Regulo has competed for over a decade on the international circuit. Despite his numerous achievements at the World Championships and World Cup, Latinos and other events, Carmona has suffered a string of misfortunes in his career moving him away from the olympic classification. He participated at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo, Japan and at other several international competitions.
Michel Bletterman is a former Dutch male artistic gymnast, representing the Netherlands at international competitions. He competed at world championships, including the 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam, the Netherlands and the 2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. He was reserve for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Daniël Knibbeler is his personal coach and Mitch Fenner is Bletterman's national team coach.
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