More Gymnastics News

Olympics Legend Oksana Chusovitina Reveals How Gymnastics Saved Dying Son’s Life

Oksana Chusovitina reveals how gymnastics became her lifeline, funding treatment that saved her son’s life after his leukemia diagnosis.
Oksana Chusovitina Son

Gymnastics Legend Oksana Chusovitina Makes A Strong Admission About Personal Life Choice

Oksana Chusovitina, still competing at 50, reflects on her shift to coaching as she leads 159 students at Uzbekistan’s national academy.

Simone Biles Leaves Fans Shocked With Unexpected Collaboration Amid Her Australian Trip

Simone Biles surprises fans with an unexpected dance collab during her vacation, sparking reactions online.
Simone Biles (6)

Struggled in Adoption Center, Simone Biles Makes Demand Beyond 11 Olympic Gymnastics Medals

Before being adopted, Simone Biles was in foster care, an experience that has inspired her to use her fame to advocate for foster kids.
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Simone Biles Confirms Her Decision About LA Olympics in Honest Confession

Simone Biles has finally spoken up about her decision to be in the LA Olympics in an honest confession. Is she coming?
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‘Throw the Fit Away’: Simone Biles Faces Startling Incident on Australian Vacation

Simone Biles is having a chill time in Australia. Unfortunately, vacations do have their way of throwing curve ball at you.
Gymnastics: 2024 U.S. Olymmpic Team Trials – Gymnastics

Simone Biles Reveals Painful Sacrifice After Paris Olympics Gymnastics Fail: “Was This Close”

Simone Biles had a great run at the Paris Olympics, but she did make one sacrifice. What does she have to say about it?
Final: Artistic gymnastics – Paris 2024 – Floor August 05 2024: Simone Biles (United States of America) competes during

Simone Biles to Face a Personal Blow Amid Upsetting Admission: ”Why Are They My Size?”

Simone Biles shares a joyful trip to Australia, but a surprising personal moment leaves her reflecting on an unexpected and upsetting loss.
Simone Biles

Olivia Dunne Makes Concerning Confession on Public Appearances at Paul Skenes Games: “Tear You Down”

Olivia Dunne looks to Taylor Swift’s example as she navigates fame and public scrutiny in her relationship with Paul Skenes.
Taylor Swift, Olivia Dunne, and Travis Kelce

Jordan Chiles Reveals Emotional Message While Beginning New Journey to Help Young Female Athletes

Jordan Chiles shares an inspiring message about resilience and growth as she welcomes two young athletes under her mentorship.
Jordan Chiles

Suni Lee Revives Emotional Comeback as Mother’s 14-Year-Old Prediction Resurfaces

Suni Lee reflects back on the 2024 Paris Olympic win as her mother's prediction regarding her success goes viral on social media.
Olympic Games Paris 2024, Day 2

Simone Biles Reveals Stunning Accessories After Leaving Jonathan Owens Behind For Special Trip

Olympic icon Simone Biles shares a new vacation update with her BFF after returning from the British Virgin Islands
Simone Biles

About Gymnastics

Gymnastics is a collection of physical exercises requiring a lot of strength, agility, balance, and flexibility. It is closely related to circus performing skills as athletes put their bodies to the fullest use. Likewise, there are various disciplines for gymnasts to showcase their talents. Thus, it evolved from ancient Greeks that included skills to mounting to dismounting a horse. The competitive form of gymnastics is called artistic gymnastics. It involves various events for women like the floor, vault, uneven bars, and the beam. For men, they have floor, vault, rings, pommel horse, parallel bars, and horizontal bars. Therefore, the sport is famous for its aesthetic values and the Olympics draws major crowds to the gymnastics arena.

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History of Gymnastics

Gymnastics originated from the Greek term, 'to exercise naked,' applied in ancient Greece exercises. These exercises became a mainstay at the Olympics but most of the competition came from ancient roots. There are stone engravings found in Shandong province during the Han Period (206 BCE–220 CE) where they portrayed acrobatics. Like every sport, the person credited for making the sport famous was Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, founder of the Turnverein movement as he helped to spread gymnastics across the world.

Most of the exercises were conducted on the playground. Therefore, various events came into existence. They held the first Gymnastics festival in 1860 in Coburg. The Americans were introduced to Gymnastics in the late 1820s while the Federation Internationale Gymnastique was founded in 1881 to organize the event. The 1896 Olympic Games saw the starting stages of gymnastics being introduced to the world. 

The Sport

There are three divisions of artistic gymnastics- artistic, rhythmic, and trampoline. There are six events for men and the all around event where they combine scores from every discipline. For women, there are four exercises and a similar all around event, both team and individual events. Apart from artistic gymnastics, there is rhythmic gymnastics and is practiced only by women. Trampoline is the other discipline of gymnastics and introduced itself at the 2000 Olympic Games. As years pass by, various gymnasts showcased their athletic skills to the masses in attendance.

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Famous gymnasts in the world

Simone Biles:

In terms of pure dominance, Simone Biles enters the list as arguably the greatest gymnast of all time. She is the most decorated gymnast in the World Championships, winning four gold, one silver, and two bronze medals. The 2016 Rio Olympics saw her winning four gold medals and completely dominated the events. She has 25 World Championships medals to her name and her stance on mental health helps her become an influential person in the society.

Larisa Latynina:

Winning nine gold medals at the Olympics is astonishing and Larisa Latynina ranks on top of the famous gymnast charts. After Michael Phelps, she has the most Olympic medals with 18. She popularized the sport of gymnastics and was the first star in the sport. Her iconic performances will go down to the gymnastics folklore.

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Nadia Comaneci:

Achieving a perfect 10.0 score in gymnastics is amazing. But, doing it at the Olympics, when just turning 14, placed Nadia Comaneci amongst the pantheon of greats. The 1976 Olympics saw her earning seven perfect scores. She won five Olympic gold medals out of the nine she won.

Svetlana Khorkina:

With a total of 47 Olympic, World and European Championships medals, Svetlana Khorkina is a remarkable gymnast. She became the first gymnast to win three all-around titles at the World Championships while winning five gold medals in the uneven bars at World Championships. Her success in the uneven bars earned her the moniker 'The Queen of Bars.'