A judged sport featuring acrobatic routines on apparatus or floor, rewarding strength, flexibility, balance, and choreography.
Origin and rules
Modern gymnastics grew from 19th-century European physical-culture movements, with Friedrich Jahn’s Turnen system in Germany a key influence. The FIG was founded in 1881 and runs the sport’s apparatus and code of points.
How it plays
Artistic gymnastics has six men’s events and four women’s, each with a difficulty score and an execution score. Rhythmic, trampoline, aerobic, acrobatic, and parkour all sit under the FIG umbrella with their own routines and apparatus.
Competition
The FIG World Championships and the Olympic Games are the marquee events. The United States, China, Russia, Japan, and Romania have dominated artistic gymnastics in different eras. Gymnastics has been on the Olympic programme since Athens 1896.