Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the Code of Points used to score performances and regulates all aspects of elite international competition. Within individual countries, gymnastics is regulated by national federations such as British Gymnastics and USA Gymnastics. Artistic gymnastics is a popular spectator sport at many competitions, including the Summer Olympic Games.
A gymnast performing on the parallel bars in 1962.
Image: D Hypolito Vault
Image: 2018 10 14 Gymnastics at 2018 Summer Youth Olympics – Boys' Artistic Gymnastics – Apparatus finals – Vault (Martin Rulsch) 176
Image: 2015 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships Vault Ksenia Afanasyeva 08
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shoulders, back, chest, and abdominal muscle groups. Gymnastics evolved from exercises used by the ancient Greeks that included skills for mounting and dismounting a horse, and from circus performance skills.
Daniele Hypólito performing on the balance beam
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, the "father of gymnastics"
Early 20th-century gymnastics in Stockholm, Sweden
Nadia Comăneci in 1976. The artistry and grace of Comăneci and Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut gave the sport global popularity.
