Women's gymnastics is incredibly physically demanding, requiring strength, balance and precision. Although the tumbling passes of the floor exercise are no exception, the rest of the event allows gymnasts to have more fun, showing off their dance moves and creativity. Despite the popularity of women's gymnastics today, individual Olympic medals for the floor exercise have only been awarded since the 1950s.
Beginnings
Like many other sports, gymnastics began in ancient Greek civilization. Exercises such as running, jumping, throwing and weightlifting were performed by men and women to stay fit and show off their athletic prowess. After the Romans conquered Greece, they made gymnastics into a formal sport, and tumbling remained as a source of entertainment after the Roman empire fell. Gymnastics as it's known today began to be modernized in the late 1700s in Germany with the development of the horizontal and parallel bars, balance beam and jumping events. The sport began to spread to other European countries and the U.S. in the 1800s.
Female Participation
The first modern Olympic Games in 1896 included a men's gymnastics competition. However, although women had participated in the sport in ancient times, they were not added to Olympic competition until 1936. At first, they only competed for an all-around title; in 1952, they began to compete for medals in separate events. The standout performances of female gymnasts Olga Korbut and Nadia Comeneci in the 1970s helped the sport gain more popularity, especially in the U.S.
Routines
The floor exercise is a choreographed routine containing dance and acrobatic moves that is up to 90 seconds long. The routine can include up to four tumbling passes and several dance elements. The standard floor exercise area is 12 square meters. Specific requirements for the floor exercise are outlined in the Federation Internationale Gymnastique's Code of Points, which is reissued and changed periodically.
Medalists
Eastern European women have tended to dominate the floor exercise, at least in individual Olympic competition, since the 1950s. Even as American, Chinese and other countries' teams have taken group and all-around medals, all the individual gold medalists in the floor exercise -- since individual events were added to women's competition -- have been from Romania, Russia, Ukraine, the former USSR, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. The first gold medalist in the floor exercise, in 1952, was Agnes Keleti; other notable gold medalists include Comeneci, Nelli Kim and Korbut.
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