Lesson Three

Gymnastics is thought to have began in ancient Greece about 2500 years ago where it was used in training to keep fit for
sporting activities. In the Greek city of Athens, gymnastic tournaments were held, including tumbling, rope climbing, and
other similar activities. The gymnasium was the hub of cultural activity.

Gymnastics started as ancient civilizations doing strength and acrobatic exercises. The word gymnastics comes from
the Greek words “gymnos” and “gymnazo” meaning roughly to train, to exercise naked.

Johann Christoph Friedrich Gutsmuths, a German teacher and educator, is considered the great grandfather of
gymnastics. In 1793 he published a textbook which was later translated to English as “Gymnastics for Youth: or a
Practical Guide to Healthful and Amusing Exercises for the use of Schools”.

A fellow German, Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, is known as the father of gymnastics. He was a member of the Prussian army
in the early 1800s. After a battle in which the Prussian army was defeated, he came up with the idea of improving
morale by developing physical and mental strength through gymnastics. He opened the first Turnplatz, or open air
gymnasium in 1811. Parallel Bars, rings and high bar were practiced at this gym.

History of Gymnastics
1793: Johann Christoph Friedrich Gutsmuths, considered to be the great grandfather of gymnastics, published the first
gymnastics textbook.

1811: The first gymnasium was opened by Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, the father of gymnastics.

1881: The Bureau of the European Gymnastics Federation, which would later become the International Gymnastics
Federation (FIG) was formed.

1896: The first summer Olympics was held in Athens and gymnastics events were a part of the competition.

1928: Women were allowed to compete artistic gymnastics at the 1928 Summer Olympics held in Amsterdam.

1963: United States Gymnastics Federation, now known as USA Gymnastics, was formed.

1976: Nadia Comaneci received the first perfect score at the 1976 Olympics.

1984: Rhythmic gymnastics was added to the Olympics. Also Mary Lou Retton became the first American woman to win
the Olympic all-around title.

History of Gymnastics
1996: The Magnificent Seven, the 1996 US Olympic women’s gymnastics team, win the US’s first gold medal in the women’s team
competition. The seven members were Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Dominique Dawes, Kerri Strug, Amy Chow,
Amanda Borden and Jaycie Phelps.
1997: FIG raised the age requirement for gymnasts to compete at senior-level gymnastics events from 15 to 16 .
1999: Trampoline and Tumbling joined USA Gymnastics.

2000: Trampoline made its Olympic debut at the 2000 Olympics.

2001: Due to safety concerns, the Vault table replaced the vault horse (basically a pommel horse with no handles) in
gymnastics competition.

2002: United States Sports Acrobatics (USSA) merged with USA Gymnastics making Acro the fifth gymnastics discipline.

2004: Carly Patterson becomes the first American woman to win the Olympic all-around title in a non-boycotted
Olympics.
2006: FIG introduced a new scoring system for women’s artistic gymnastics. Now the maximum score is no longer a 10.0. The new
scoring system has two separate scores added together — a difficulty score, and an execution score. This scoring system is used at
the Elite level in the US and in international competitions.

History of Gymnastics
2012: The Fierce Five win the US’s second ever gold medal in the women’s team competition. The five members of the team were Gabby
Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, Kyla Ross and Jordyn Weiber. Gabby Douglas became the first African American in Olympic
history to win the Individual All Around title as well as the first American to win both the Individual All Around and Team gold
in the same Olympics.

2013: The gymnastics levels changed from 6 compulsory levels and 4 optional levels, to 5 compulsory levels and 5 optional levels. Also
in 2013, the Xcel program becomes a national program. The Xcel program is a great addition to the traditional Junior Olympic
program due to its affordable competition experience and ability to retain athletes.

2016: The Final Five win the gold medal in the women’s team competition to defend their title and Simone Biles wins the All Around
and was the only American to qualify for all 4 event finals.

2019: Simone Biles makes history again as she wins the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany and becomes the first female
gymnast to win 21 medals in total (beating out Svetlana Khorkina who was the previous record holder with 20 World medals).
Biles also performs a triple-double on floor exercise and a double-double tuck dismount on beam, becoming the first gymnast to
compete and land those skills.

2020: The International Olympic Committee makes the decision to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in response to the coronavirus
pandemic that affected the entire world.

History of Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength,
flexibility, agility, coordination, and endurance. The movements involved in
gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shoulders, back, chest,
and abdominal muscle groups.

What is Gymnastics?
Gain Strength and Power Learn to set goals

Good Flexibility Gain Self Esteem

Improve on your coordination  Skills which will benefit other sports

Learn a range of movements Social Interaction

Learn to Listen Having fun

Benefits of Gymnastics
 an even distribution of weight enabling
Balance someone or something to remain
Agility ability to move quickly and easily.
upright and steady.

the quality or state of being

Strength the ability to use different parts of
physically strong. Coordination the body together smoothly and
efficiently.

is the ability of a joint or series of joints

Flexibility to move through an unrestricted, pain the ability to withstand
free range of motion. Endurance hardship or adversity

Components of Gymnastics
Women's Artistic Gymnastics

Women's artistic gymnastics (often shortened to just "women's gymnastics") attracts the most
participants and is generally the most well-known type of gymnastics. It's also one of the first tickets to
sell out at the Olympic Games.
The events: In women’s artistic gymnastics, athletes compete on four apparatus (vault, uneven bars,
balance beam and floor exercise).

Men’s Artistic Gymnastics

This is the second most popular type of gymnastics in the United States and the oldest form of
gymnastics.
The events: Men compete on six apparatus: floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars
and horizontal bar (usually called high bar).

Types of Gymnastics
Rhythmic Gymnastics

In rhythmic gymnastics, gymnasts perform jumps, tosses, leaps and other moves with different types of
apparatus. This is currently a female-only sport in the Olympics.
The events: Athletes compete with five different types of apparatus: rope, hoop, ball, clubs, and ribbon.
Floor exercise is also an event in the lower levels of competition.

Trampoline

In trampoline gymnastics, gymnasts perform high-flying flips and twists on every bounce. This became an
Olympic discipline for the 2000 Olympics.
To add trampolinists to the quota allotted for gymnastics, artistic teams were reduced from seven team
members to six.
The events: A compulsory and a voluntary routine are performed in the Olympic competitions. Each
consists of ten skills and is done on the same type of trampoline.

Types of Gymnastics
Tumbling

Power tumbling is performed on a spring runway much bouncier than the floor exercise mat used in artistic
gymnastics. Because of its spring, athletes are able to perform very complicated flips and twists in
succession.
The events: All tumbling is done on the same strip. The gymnast performs two passes in each stage of the
competition, with eight elements in each pass.

Acrobatic Gymnastics

In acrobatic gymnastics, the athletes are the equipment. A two- to four-gymnast team performs all types of
handstands, holds and balances on each other, while members of the team throw and catch their
teammates.
The events: Acrobatics is always performed on the same floor exercise mat.
The events competed are men’s pairs, women’s pairs, mixed pairs, women’s groups (three gymnasts) and
men’s groups (four gymnasts).

Types of Gymnastics
Group Gymnastics

Group gymnastics in the United States is usually performed competitively under the name Team Gym. In
Team Gym, athletes compete together in a group of six to 16 gymnasts. The group may be all-female, all-
male or mixed.
The events: In the U.S., participants in Team Gym compete in the group jump event (performances in
tumbling, vault, and mini-trampoline) and the group floor exercise.

Types of Gymnastics
Horizontal Bar/High Bar Parallel Bars

Gymnastics Apparatus
Balance Beam Rings

Gymnastics Apparatus
Pommel Horse Uneven Bars

Gymnastics Apparatus
Trampoline Vault

Gymnastics Apparatus
Light Apparatus