Olympics Artistic Gymnastics Tickets Information

Olympics Artistic Gymnastics
Although not a popular participant sport, artistic gymnastics is popular as spectator sports at the Summer Olympic Games, as performance at a basic level requires very high levels of fitness and skills, taking more training than many people are prepared to commit. In many nations, gymnastics is an expensive sport. However, the discipline of general gymnastics is geared more towards fun and fitness than competition, and attracts a respectable number of participants including retired gymnasts. Artistic Gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which competitors perform short routines (ranging from approximately 30 to 90 seconds) on different apparatus.

More than 2,000 years ago, Gymnastics originated in the Ancient Greece, as a system of harmonious sports training, although much earlier, gymnastic exercises and other apparatus were used in the ancient China and India for medical purposes. It was mentioned in works by ancient authors, such as Homer, Aristotle and Plato. It included many disciplines, which later became separate sports: swimming, race, wrestling, boxing, riding, etc. and was also used for the military training. In its present form gymnastics evolved in Germany and Czechoslovakia in the beginning of the 19th century, and the term "artistic gymnastics" was introduced at the same time to distinguish free styles from the ones used by the military. A German educator Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, known as the father of gymnastics, invented several apparatus, including the horizontal bar and parallel bars which are used to this day. Two of the first gymnastics clubs were Turnvereins and Sokols.

Gymnastics contest at every Summer Olympic Games since the modern Olympic movement at 1896 Summer Olympics. For thirty years, only men were allowed to compete. Women's events were introduced at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. After 1984, rhythmic gymnastics discipline was added to the program of the Olympics. Since 2000, trampolining discipline has also been competed. Currently, in Olympic or World Championships competition, there are several sessions: team qualifying, team finals, all-around finals and event finals. During the team qualifying (TQ) round, gymnasts compete with their national squad on all four/six apparatus. The scores from the session determine which teams advance to the team finals and which individual gymnasts advance to the all-around and event finals. The current format of this session is 6-5-4, meaning there are six gymnasts on the team, five compete, and four of the scores count.

In the team finals (TF), gymnasts compete with their national squad on all four/six apparatus. The scores from the session determine the medalists of the team competition. The current format is 6-3-3, meaning there are six gymnasts on the team, three compete, and all three scores count. In the all-around finals (AA), the gymnasts are individual competitors and perform on all four/six apparatus. The scores from this session are used to award the all-around medals. Only two gymnasts from each country advance to the all-around finals. In the event finals (EF) or apparatus finals, the top eight gymnasts compete for medals. Only two from each country advance to each EF.

Other competitions are not bound by these rules with other formats. For instance, the recent Pan American Games with one day team competition on a 6-5-4 format are allowed three athletes from each country for the all-around. In other meets the team event is not contested at all.

The FIG imposes a minimum age limit on gymnasts competing in international meets. Currently, gymnasts must be at least sixteen years of age, or turning sixteen within the calendar year to compete in senior-level events. The one exception to this rule is the year before the Olympics, when gymnasts who are one year shy of the age requirement may compete at the Worlds and other meets. For instance, gymnasts born in 1988 were allowed to compete in senior events in 2003. This is permitted to allow nations to qualify to the Olympics with their best teams, and to give emerging gymnasts some experience in major competition before the Olympics.

The junior gymnasts compete at a world-class/elite level, but being too young to be classified as a senior, they are judged under the same Code of Points as the seniors, and often exhibit the same level of difficulty in their routines.

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