Hugely popular with audiences all over the world, Artistic Gymnastics looks set to draw huge crowds to North Greenwich Arena for London 2012.

Did you know?

• The word ‘Gymnastics’ comes from the Greek for ‘naked’ – early gymnasts used to perform without any clothes.
• Gymnasts are usually among the youngest competitors at the Olympic Games, and some later reappear as divers, pole vaulters or aerial skiers in the Winter Games.
• A ‘Perfect 10’ is no longer the top score in Gymnastics. Open-ended scoring was introduced in 2006 to make it easier to reward difficulty.
• Shun Fujimoto competed with a broken leg to help Japan win Team gold at Montreal 1976.
• The oldest Gymnastics medalist in Games history was Edith Seymour, 46 – a member of the UK’s bronze medal-winning team at the Amsterdam 1928 Games.
• Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina has 18 Olympic medals – the most ever won in any sport.

Key facts

Venue: North Greenwich Arena
Dates: Saturday 28 July – Tuesday 7 August
Medal events: 14
Athletes: 196 (98 men, 98 women)

The grace, strength and skill of Olympic gymnasts have been astonishing audiences since the Games in Ancient Greece, where Gymnastics was regarded as the perfect symmetry between mind and body. The best known of the three Gymnastics disciplines, Artistic Gymnastics is always among the most popular competitions at the Games.

The basics

Along with events to find the best teams and the best all-around performers, gymnasts will be battling for gold on individual apparatus. Men compete on the floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar, while women compete on the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor.

Scores are given by a panel of judges, taking into account the degree of difficulty and the quality of the execution. Strength, flexibility and balance are keys to success in this breathtaking and hugely competitive sport.

Olympic Artistic Gymnastics, past and present

The term ‘Artistic Gymnastics’ was first used in the 19th century. Between its appearance at the Athens 1896 Games and the 1920s, the event evolved into what we recognise as modern Gymnastics. The men’s individual apparatus and team competitions first appeared at the Paris 1924 Games; a women’s team event introduced was in 1928, with women’s individual apparatus competitions added in 1952.

At London 2012, the Artistic Gymnastics competition will be held at the state-of-the-art North Greenwich Arena on the River Thames, which will also host the Trampoline Gymnastics competition and the closing stages of the Basketball tournament.

Jargon buster

• All-around: Competitions that feature a variety of different elements (six for men, four for women).
• Balance beam: A single beam, 5m long and 10cm wide, used exclusively in women’s competition.
• Rings: Two rings, each with an internal diameter of 18cm, are suspended 280cm from the floor. Rings are used exclusively in men’s competition.
• Podium: The raised competition area.
• Vault: The vault is 120cm long and 95cm wide, and is set at a height of 135cm (for men) or 125cm (for women).

Get involved

You may be able to join a club or class at your local leisure centre. Visit British Gymnastics,Active Places and the International Gymnastics Federation for more on the sport.

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