ContentsContents 4 Going for Gold 6 Artistic Gymnastics 8 Floor Exercises 10 The Vault 12 The Balance Beam 14 The Rings 16 The High and Uneven Bars 18 Parallel Bars and Pommel Horse 20 All-Around Events 22 Rhythmic Gymnastics 26 Trampolining 28 Gold Medal Greats 30 Glossary 31 Books and Web Sites 32 Index
Going for Gold The Olympics is the greatest sporting event on Earth Thousands of competitors called Olympians flock to one city every four years to compete over 17 days of unforgettable action The very best athletes win an Olympic gold silver or bronze medal China’s Li Xiaopeng flies high above the parallel bars during the 2008 Olympics Xiaopeng won this artistic gymnastics event and Yoo Wonchul from South Korea came second Modern Games The modern Olympic Games began in 1896 in Athens They revived the sports contests held by the ancient Greeks at Olympia from 776 BC Today the summer Olympics are held every four years The host city and nation welcome 4 thousands of spectators while hundreds of millions more watch on television Skill and Strength Gymnastics has been a part of every modern Olympics for men and since 1928 for women Gymnasts perform great feats of strength balance flexibility and poise They need high
No one has won more Olympic medals in any sport than Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina She competed at the games in 1956 1960 and 1964 and won an (cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:70)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:76)(cid:69)(cid:79)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:81)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:74)(cid:82)(cid:79)(cid:71)(cid:15)(cid:3)(cid:191)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:86)(cid:76)(cid:79)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:15)(cid:3) and four bronze medals Superstar levels of coordination in their movements and explosive power for some leaping events such as vaulting At the 2012 Olympics a total of 324 gymnasts will compete in the different medal competitions Three Types There are three different types of gymnastic events held at an Olympics artistic gymnastics rhythmic gymnastics and trampolining Rhythmic gymnasts make graceful flowing moves to music They perform on a large mat using objects such as a ball and large hoop In artistic gymnastics competitors often perform spectacular routines or moves on equipment called apparatus Trampolining gymnasts bounce high above a trampoline where they twist and turn in somersaults Games Age In the past medal-winning Olympic gymnasts have ranged in age from ten to over thirty In 1997 the International Gymnastics Federation FIG the organization that runs world gymnastics decided that gymnasts must be 16 years or older to compete in major championships including the Olympics Dong Fangxiao was a bronze medalist at the 2000 Olympics with the Chinese team When she became an official at the 2008 Olympics an investigation found that she was only 14 years old in 2000 two years below the minimum age She and the rest of her team lost their medals 5 Simeonova Seredova performs with the hoop during a rhythmic gymnastics competition in Italy in 2009 Rhythmic gymnasts must keep the hoop moving as they perform
