Gymnastics Facts

Did you know that gymnastics has been around for over 2000 years? Warriors prepared for battle by doing gymnastics. The Romans, at one point, were not a fan of gymnastics. They actually banned gymnastics in 393 A.D.!

Gymnastics Facts and the Olympics

Jump forward to the 1860‘s and gymnastics was again a thing. Dr.Dudley was teaching gymnastics during the Civil War. In fact, the sport had become so popular that the gymnastics competition was part of the first Olympic games in 1896. For forty years only men could compete. Then in 1936, women were allowed to participate in the gymnastics part of the Olympics.

Did you know George Eyser (USA) was named the “most remarkable gymnast” for his multiple wins in the 1904 summer Olympics? What makes his wins so special is that he received 6 medals that year, and won them with a wooden leg! He was the only person with an artificial leg to compete in the Olympics.

Another significant date is 1952. Full range of events opened up for women in the Olympics.

The Olympic’s 10 point scoring system was adopted in 1954. Twenty two years later, Nadia received the first ever Perfect 10 score. The scoring system remained the same until 2006. Now, no gymnast is able to score a perfect 10.

Larisa Latinina is a well know USSR gymnast. She won 18 medals between 1956 and 1964. In 1958 Larisa competed in the World Championship, while four months pregnant, and won 5 of 6 titles! To this day, she holds second place for the most Olympic Gold Medals.

Rhythmic gymnastics began in LA, and the summer Olympics of 1984 was the Olympic debut.

The Olympic rules did not have an age requirement until 1996 when they set the age to 16.

Did you know in the 2000 Olympics the vault was two inches to low for the women? There were many gymnasts that crash landed that event. You can read about it in the Chicago Tribune.

Olympic Videos

Watch this video from the 2000 prelims and decide for yourself:
https://youtu.be/lxQ0WY6Kt7Q

Kristen Maloney, although she hurt her leg, landed her vaults. You can see for yourself how she did in this YouTube video: https://youtu.be/lSmx8elAcQs.

Did you know? . . . random gymnastics facts

Did you know North Korea and China were accused of falsifying documents regarding athletes? The year was 2008.

The Olympics banned North Korea from competing in 1991.

The Nastia Luken Cup began in 2010.

FIG is not just a fruit. FIG stands for the Federation of International Gymnastics, and it is the oldest existing sports organization.

The leotard got its name from Jules Leotard. He wore a one piece outfit that became such a hit, the leotard was later named after him.

Ludwig Jahn (from Germany) created many of the apparatuses used in gymnastics competitions today. He developed the side bar, horizontal bar, parallel bars, balance beam, and the jumping events.

Did you know? . . . gymnast facts

Nastia Liukin and Shannon Miller both hold the third highest number of championship medals. Nastia also won an all-around gold medal, and is the third woman in history to win the all-around title.

Shannon Miller is a skilled gymnast with over 100 medals. Over her career, Shannon earned 49 national, 59 international competition, 2 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze, and is considered the most decorated.

Marci Frederick was the first woman in gymnastics to win a gold medal in World Gymnastics Championship. The year was 1978.

Gabby Douglas was the first African American in Olympic history to become an all-around champion. She also won gold for individual and team all-around.

Shawn Johnson, the Season 8 winner on Dancing With The Stars, started her career in gymnastics. Shawn won a silver medal the same year that Nastia won the gold. For the second time in history two women won gold and silver and were from the same country in the women’s all-around.