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 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 Originally made of a metal frame with a wooden body and a leather cover, the modern pommel horse has a metal body covered with foam rubber and leather, with plastic handles.
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 assigns the Code of Points used to score performances and regulates all aspects of elite international competition. Within individual countries, gymnastics is regulated by national federations such as British Gymnastics and USA Gymnastics. Artistic gymnastics is a popular spectator sport at many competitions, including the Summer Olympic Games.
Gilbert Larose was a gymnast who was named NCAA all-around champion for the University of Michigan in 1963 and competed for Canada in the 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics. Larose was the first University of Michigan gymnast to win the NCAA all-around title.
United States of America Gymnastics is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Established in 1963 as the U.S. Gymnastics Federation (USGF), USA Gymnastics selects and trains the men's and women's national teams for the Olympic Games and World Championships. USAG sets the rules and policies that govern the sport of gymnastics, promotes the sport at all levels, and serves as a resource center for members, clubs, fans and gymnasts.
Abraham Israel "Abie" Grossfeld is an American gymnastics coach and former gymnast. Grossfeld represented the United States as a gymnast for 15 consecutive years in 35 countries as a member of 26 international teams including the Olympic Games, World Championships, and Pan American Games.
Louis Antoine Smith MBE is a retired British artistic gymnast.
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.
Max Antony Whitlock is a British artistic gymnast. With fourteen medals and six titles in Olympic and World Championships, Whitlock is the most successful gymnast in his nation's history. He is also the most successful pommel horse worker in gymnastics history with five Olympic and World titles.
Samuel Anthony Mikulak is a retired American artistic gymnast. He is a six-time U.S. national all-around champion, the 2018 World bronze medalist on high bar, and a three-time Olympian. He is also an eight-time NCAA champion, winning the team, individual all-around and several individual event titles at the 2011, 2013 and 2014 NCAA Men's Gymnastics championships.
The USA Gymnastics National Championships is the annual artistic gymnastics national competition held in the United States for elite-level competition. It is currently organized by USA Gymnastics, the governing body for gymnastics in the United States. The national championships have been held since 1963.
Nikolai Yulievich Kuksenkov is a retired Russian gymnast who won a silver medal in the team event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He competed for Ukraine for many years and moved to Russia after the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where he placed fourth in the all-around and fourth with the 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.
Frank Conway Turner was a British gymnast who took part in four Olympic Games, three as a competitor and the fourth as National Coach; he was captain of the British Gymnastics team in the 1948 Summer Olympics. Turner was four times British gymnastics champion.
Marios Georgiou is a Cypriot artistic gymnast. He is the 2022 European horizontal bar champion and the first gymnast from Cyprus to win a European title. He is the 2019 European Championships all-around bronze medalist which made him the first gymnast from Cyprus to win a European medal. He is the 2019 European Games parallel bars silver medalist. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games, he won the gold medals in the floor exercise and parallel bars and the bronze medal in the all-around, and he won four bronze medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. He is the 2018 Mediterranean Games all-around and horizontal bar champion and the 2022 Mediterranean Games horizontal bar champion. He competed at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games.
Yul Kyung-Tae Moldauer is an American artistic gymnast. He is the 2017 U.S. national all-around champion and the 2017 World bronze medalist on floor exercise. He represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics and was a member of the bronze medal winning team at the 2023 World Championships.
Joseph Kotys was an American artistic gymnast. He won a team gold medal and three individual medals at the 1955 Pan American Games. At the 1948 Summer Olympics, he placed seventh with the team and had his best individual result of 23rd place on pommel horse.
Ronald S. Barak is an American gymnast. At the 1961 Maccabiah Games he won eight gold medals, one silver medal, and one bronze medal. At the 1964 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships he won the all-around competition, the horizontal bars, and the parallel bars, and at the 1964 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) National Gymnastics Competition he was the champion in the horizontal bars. He competed in eight events at the 1964 Summer Olympics.
Daiki Hashimoto is a Japanese artistic gymnast. Widely regarded as the successor of Kohei Uchimura, he won two gold medals at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in all-around and horizontal bar, as well as a silver in team. At the world championships, he has also won 3 golds, 5 silvers, and 1 bronze.
Matvei Sergeyevich Petrov is a Russian-born Albanian artistic gymnast. He is the 2020 European Champion on the pommel horse, and he is Albania's first European medalist. He represented Albania at the 2020 Summer Olympics and was the first reserve for the pommel horse final after finishing tenth in the qualification round.
