A perfect 10 is a score of 10.000 for a single routine in artistic gymnastics, which was once thought to be unattainable—particularly at the Olympic Games—under the code of points set by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). It is generally recognized that the first person to score a perfect 10 at the Olympic Games was Romanian Nadia Comăneci, at the 1976 Games in Montreal. Other women who accomplished this feat at the Olympics include Nellie Kim, also in 1976, Mary Lou Retton in 1984, Daniela Silivaș and Yelena Shushunova in 1988, Lu Li and Lavinia Miloșovici in 1992. The first man to score a perfect 10 is considered to be Alexander Dityatin, at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.
Nadia Comăneci poses beside the scoreboard that recorded her perfect 10 as 1.00 (with no Olympic precedent, the hardware was not capable of displaying 10.00).
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
