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In 1896, gymnastics competitions were held as part of the first Olympic Games of the modern era. In 1921, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) was created with the inclusion of non-European countries in the European Gymnastics Federation. Currently, FIG covers three Olympic disciplines: artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline.
Artistic gymnastics
Combining strength and agility with style and grace, athletes perform on apparatus such as the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and the floor for women’s events, and the floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bars for the men’s events. Artistic gymnastics can be traced back to ancient Greece and the ancient Olympic Games.
Rhythmic gymnastics
Rhythmic gymnastics is strictly a women’s event. The gymnasts, accompanied by music, perform in an area that is 13 x 13 meters, with up to five apparatus: rope, ball, hoop, ribbon and clubs. The event can be an individual or team competition; teams consist of five athletes. The choice of the apparatus is determined by the regulations and by each Olympic cycle.
Trampoline
On January 1, 1999, trampoline became an official gymnastic event in the Olympic Games, and debuted at the Sydney 2000 games as a men’s and women’s individual event. According to FIG, this discipline symbolizes liberty, flight and space. Somersaults and twists are executed with a high degree of precision and body control at an average height of eight meters.
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