While gymnastics requires athletic prowess, strength, balance, and good coordination, it is also characterized with elements of artistic expression. In fact, one of the types of this sport is called artistic gymnastics for that very reason.
Its roots can be traced back to Ancient Greece where it was held in high regard and considered not only an exercise for the body but for the mind as well. Greek sophist, or teacher, Philostratus described the routine in his book Gymnastics: The Ethics of an Athletic Aesthetic. In the book he claimed that gymnastics was a form of wisdom, similar to music, poetry, or geometry.
Throughout history, different exercises, such as high jumping, rope climbing, synchronized calisthenics, were collectively described as gymnastics. At present, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) governs eight types of gymnastics. These are: gymnastics for all, men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampolining, tumbling, acrobatic, aerobic, and parkour.
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Evolution of Gymnastics
Interestingly, even though gymnastics was held in high regard in Ancient Greece, it was not part of the Olympic Games back in the day. However, interest towards the sport never really fully disappeared. By the late 18th century it began being introduced as an educative subject. For example, Spanish colonel Francisco Amorós y Ondeano is often credited as the first person to facilitate development of gymnastics in France.
Apparently, gymnastics classes caught on not only in France, but spread around Europe. In 1811 German gymnastics educator Friedrich Ludwig Jahn started a gymnastics movement in Berlin. As a result, most of the modern gymnastics equipment was invented, including rings, high bar, parallel bars, vault horse, and pommel horse. By the 1820s gymnastics transcended the continental borders and began conquering the United States, with the help of scholars Charles Beck, Charles Follen, and John Neal, who started the first wave.
The Belgian city of Liege became the seat for the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG). FIG was founded in 1881, which makes it the oldest international sports federation in the world. With such ever growing popularity in Europe, it came as no surprise that gymnastics were included in the first Olympic Games of modernity that were held in 1896 in Athens. Unsurprisingly, the first several editions of the Games only featured men’s gymnastics, however, it was also one of the sports to include women’s teams relatively early on. The first women’s Olympic competition was conducted in 1928 Amsterdam and was limited to track and field and synchronized calisthenics.
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Gymnastics Olympics 2024: From A to Z
Ever since its first appearance on the Olympic arena in 1896, gymnastics has always been a part of the programme, having never missed a single edition of the Games. The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics are no exception.
Categories admitted to the Games are artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, and trampolining. Artistic gymnastics and trampolining share a venue at the Bercy Arena, while the rhythmic gymnastics will be held at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena, also commonly known as the Adidas Arena. Various disciplines of artistic gymnastics are conducted between 27 July and 5 August, trampolining is scheduled for 2 August, while rhythmic gymnastics is conducted at a later stage, from 8 to 10 August.
The qualification process was significantly simplified compared to that of the previous Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020. 318 berths were allocated to athletes across all three disciplines, with 192 spots going to artistic, 94 to rhythmic, and 32 to trampolining. See the list of all qualifying tournaments per discipline below.
For artistic gymnastics:
- 2022 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
- 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
- 2024 Apparatus World Cup Series
- 2024 Continental Championships (including 2023 Pan American Games, 2024 European Championships (MAG, WAG), 2024 African Championships, 2024 Asian Championships (MAG, WAG), 2024 Oceania Championships)
For rhythmic gymnastics:
- 2022 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships
- 2023 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships
- 2024 Continental Championships (including 2023 Pan American Games, 2024 African Championships, 2024 Asian Championships, 2024 European Championships, 2024 Oceania Championships)
For trampoline:
- 2023 Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships
- 2023–24 Trampoline World Cup series
- 2024 Continental Championships (including 2024 African Championships)
As a result, a total of 54 nations were qualified to send their gymnasts to the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games. The numbers in the list below indicate the number of athletes per nation.
- Algeria (1)
- Armenia (2)
- Australia (13)
- Austria (2)
- Azerbaijan (7)
- Belgium (5)
- Brazil (15)
- Bulgaria (9)
- Canada (11)
- China (20)
- Colombia (3)
- Croatia (2)
- Cyprus (2)
- Czech Republic (1)
- Dominican Republic (1)
- Egypt (10)
- France (14) (host)
- Georgia (1)
- Germany (16)
- Great Britain (13)
- Greece (1)
- Haiti (1)
- Hungary (5)
- Hong Kong (1)
- Indonesia (1)
- Individual Neutral Athletes (3)
- Iran (1)
- Ireland (1)
- Israel (8)
- Italy (17)
- Japan (12)
- Jordan (1)
- Kazakhstan (4)
- Laos (1)
- Lithuania (1)
- Mexico (8)
- Netherlands (10)
- New Zealand (3)
- North Korea (1)
- Panama (1)
- Philippines (4)
- Portugal (2)
- Romania (7)
- Slovenia (2)
- South Africa (1)
- South Korea (8)
- Spain (17)
- Switzerland (6)
- Syria (1)
- Chinese Taipei (2)
- Turkey (5)
- Ukraine (12)
- United States (13)
- Uzbekistan (3)
Basic Rules and Evaluation Systems in Gymnastics
All three disciplines participating in the Olympic Games have a different system of evaluation. While in trampolining only individual performances among both men and women are evaluated, in rhythmic gymnastics athletes get scored both individually and as a team.
According to the International Gymnastics Federation rules, only women can compete in rhythmic gymnastics. As this category combines sport with dance, ballet, and manipulation of various apparatuses, the athletes are evaluated not only for execution and difficulty, but also for artistry, which implies the music and choreography chosen for the performance. Gymnasts must perform five routines with ball, ribbon, hoop, clubs, and rope. They can get a maximum of 30 points.
Artistic gymnastics has the most branched evaluation system, where men and women are not only scored for team and individual all-around performances but also for various apparatuses included in the programme.
For men these apparatuses are:
- Floor exercise
- Pommel horse
- Rings
- Vault
- Parallel bars
- Horizontal bar
Women have fewer apparatuses featured in the programme, namely:
- Vault
- Uneven bars
- Balance beam
- Floor exercise
The evaluation system that was in place until 2004 only allowed athletes to receive up to 10 points that were granted based on the execution of the programme. Points are deducted if the gymnast falls or makes another mistake. In 2005 a new system was introduced, with two scoring elements: one for execution and one for difficulty. This newly adopted system allowed the judges to evaluate the elements included in the performed programme, the display of skills and how they are connected to each other.
Gymnastics Olympics 2024: Current Standings
With some of the gymnastics events having already taken place, we do have the names of the first medalists in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games. See below to find out who they are.
Men’s artistic gymnastics
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Team all-around | Japan
|
China
|
United States
|
| Individual all-around | Shinnosuke Oka (Japan) | Zhang Boheng (China) | Xiao Ruoteng (China) |
Women’s artistic gymnastics
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Team all-around | United States
|
Italy
|
Brazil
|
| Individual all-around | Simone Biles (United States) | Rebeca Andrade (Brazil) | Sunisa Lee (United States) |
Stay tuned to get more updates on the upcoming events!
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