Artistic Gymnastics at the Summer Olympics

Artistic Gymnastics at the Summer Olympics: This is as grace and power is performed as spectacle.

Beautiful artistic gymnastics which captivate by the spectacle of grace, power, and accuracy are one of the staples of the Summer Olympic Games. The sport divided into men’s and women’s sections presents the outstanding skills of the gymnasts who perform hard tricks on the different pieces of equipment. This article explores artistic gymnastics at the Summer Olympics in the areas of history, disciplines, athletes, and Olympics’ evolution of artistic gymnastics to show that it continues to be popular and relevant.

A Historical Perspective

The gymnastics can be said to have a history that dates back to ancient Greece where the activity was developed for the purposes of improving on body fitness. Artistic gymnastics per se only emerged in the events ahead of time but the modern type of artistic gymnastics as is witnessed today only emerged in the late nineteenth century. The sport of tennis entered Olympics in the first modern Olympics held in Athens in 1896 but initially only men’s event were allowed. The historical evolution of the sport of gymnastics can be said to have evolved to the modern gymnastics when women’s artistic gymnastics was included in the Olympics at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.

Disciplines and Apparatuses

Our main focus would be artistic gymnastics, which is further subcategorized into artistic women’s and artistic men’s divisions as well as various types of apparatus events. For the males, the six apparatuses includes floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and the high bar. Women compete in four apparatuses: artistic gymnastics include the apparatus of swinging, the bars, beam, and floor.

• Floor Exercise

This event is concerned with revealing the strength and flexibility of the gymnast as well as skillful tumbling and choreography. Talents move on the stage and do various stunts and choreographic figures with vocals and music; people watch how talented dancers and gymnasts move along the stage floor and then perform incredible movements and jumps.

• Pommel Horse

Described as one of the most difficult apparatus exercises, on the pommel horse, gymnasts are called to do round-offs and different kinds of leg swings in a sustained manner.

• Still Rings

This apparatus measures the stamina of the upper body of a gymnast as well as his/her steadiness. The gymnasts glide across the rings and do abdominal exercises and strength pieces among other things to show their might.

• Vault

The vault entails running and thus sprinting towards a spring board, then performing a launch on a vaulter’s table and finally an aerial stunting before alighting. Thus, the degree of difficulty and the manner of the vault’s completion can influence scoring.

• Parallel Bars

Swings, flights and strength elements are done on the parallel bars with gymnasts’ ability to score highly being dictated by the need to balance on parallel bars with high precision set to the beats.

• Horizontal Bar

Also called as the high bar even, this affair includes dynamic swings, release-and-catches and many a times sophisticated dismounts which gives us an idea about the bravery of a gymnast along with performance.

Women’s Events

• Uneven Bars

This one is composed of two bars one of which is positioned above the other one. Gymnasts swing, move from one position to another and perform some sorts of twirls and turns that show their flexibility.

• Balance Beam

Perhaps one of the compelling exercises, the balance beam needs gymnasts to perform stunts and choreography on a beam which is as wide as the gymnast’s hips as well as dealing with pressure and anxiety.

Notable Olympians

Over the years, many gymnasts have had their period and created a mythical status through their Olympics production.

• Nadia Comăneci

1976 Montreal Olympic was marked by many records especially in gymnastics where Romania’s Nadia Comăneci scored a record breaking 10/10. Total performances and achievements she made mark the history of the sport motivating generations of gynmasts.

• Simone Biles

Their rival from USA, an American gymnast who is famous for outstanding difficulty and sticking to it, Simone Biles has been taking over the sport. Thus, her performances at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, when she became the winner of four gold and one bronze medals, significantly strengthened her ghostwriting as one of the outstanding gymnasts in history of the world sport.

• Ko hei Uchimura

A Japanese artistic gymnast and all-rounder Kohei Uchimura brings multiple Olympic awards to the spotlight including individual all-around Olympics in 2012 and gold of the same category in 2016. These are his strengths with a nickname ‘’King Kohei’’ References Bill G. #Marcos, David.

Evolution and Impact

Artistic gymnastics was largely developed throughout the years, much has changed in terms of training methods, equipments as well as in the scoring system. The Code of Points which defines how certain moves are scored has also been changed severally in a bid to address complications as well as in a bid to achieve fairness in the judges’ decisions.

That is why the given sport is not only connected with the Olympics, but also became a trend in pop-culture and a dream for numerous young athletes all around the world. There are many gymnastics clubs and programmers in the sport, and talented children have the chance to millionaire their dream of performing gymnastics.

Conclusion

Artistic gymnastics as a part of the Summer Olympics is the true manifestation of the will-power of those who performs displaying the utmost of what a human body can do. Its traditions, numerous types, and famous players are engaging; that is why I consider the sport one of the major attractions of the Olympic Games. Thus it will always stand out as the epitome of the art of human ability, as an indication of beauty, strength, and determination.