History Of The Sport Of Gymnastics

A constantly developing sport, men and women have practiced gymnastics for more than 2,000 years. The Ancient Greek believed gymnastics was the perfect symmetry between mind and body, says Olympic.org. Through the years, gymnastics has evolved to a worldwide sport with several sub-forms requiring separate apparatuses, skills and rules for each individual sport.

Artistic

Artistic gymnastics dates back to Ancient Greece, although it wasn't called "artistic" at this time. In the 1800s, groups began conducting gymnastics exhibitions, now using the term "artistic." In the 1830s, immigrants introduced gymnastics in the U.S. school system. Men's artistic gymnastics really debuted on the world stage at the 1896 Olympics. Women's artistic gymnastics followed at the 1928 Olympic Games. Since 1960, women compete internationally on the floor, beam, uneven bars and vault. Men compete on the floor, parallel bars, high bars, vault, rings and pommel horse.

Rhythmic

While athletes practiced rhythmic gymnastics in Ancient Egypt, the International Gymnastics Federation didn't recognize rhythmic gymnastics as a sport until 1962. The former Soviet Union was the first county to conduct national rhythmic gymnastics meets in 1942, and the Soviet Union dominated international meets until the 1980s. Women's rhythmic gymnastics debuted on the Olympic stage in 1984. Men do not compete internationally. Women compete with the ball, clubs, hoop, ribbon and rope. Since 2005, more than 2,000 gymnasts compete at the world level, cites the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique.

Trampoline

With American George Nissen's invention of the portable trampoline in 1936, trampoline became a competitive gymnastics sport. Trampoline, however, may have been a sport in Ancient China, Egypt and Persia, as evidenced by archeological drawings, says USA Gymnastics. Trampoline debuted on the World Champions in 1964, and the U.S. officially recognized it as a sport in 1967. Since 2000, men and women have competed individually on the trampoline at the Olympics.

Acrobatic

Acrobatic gymnastics finds its origins in the Greek word, acrobateo, which means to rise and go forth. Acrobatic gymnastics dates back to the Ancient Egyptian period, but the FIG has only regulated acrobatic gymnastics since 1999. A partner sport, acrobatic gymnasts perform to music in pairs of men, women or mixed, or groups of three women or groups of four men. As of 2011, acrobatic gymnasts compete at the World Championships and World Cup, but not the Olympics.

Aerobic

A much newer sport, aerobic gymnastics has only been widely practiced since the 1980s. Aerobic gymnastics combines gymnastics and aerobics in routines set to music with strict skill requirements. According to FIG rules, the routine must demonstrate continuous movement, flexibility, strength and the seven basic aerobic steps. International competition began with the 1995 World Championships in Paris. Since 2010, 74 nations of the 129 member federations of the FIG include aerobic gymnastics in their gymnastics programs.