Judges closely watch a gymnast’s every move Then she lands gracefully on the ground The crowd showers her with applause Biles has everything needed to be successful in gymnastics She’s quick strong and flexible Most of all she loves what she does 6
Gymnastics combines performance art and intense athletic competition No two routines are the same in gymnastics Champions are determined by a panel of judges The judges score routines based on the difficulty of the skills gymnasts perform They also look at execution or how well each skill is done Artistry is important too Gymnastics has been around for more than 2,000 years It is one of the most popular sports at the Olympic Games Today approximately 5 million children in the United States practice gymnastics Fans enjoy watching top-level competitions such as the World Championships and the Olympics They want to see the best athletes compete for glory and gold medals SIX TYPES Artistic gymnastics is the most popular form of the sport It dominates the airwaves during the summer Olympics But there are five other types of gymnastics They are rhythmic trampoline acrobatic aerobic and Gymnastics for All There’s much more to gymnastics than what we see in the Olympics But that’s really where gymnastics got its start 7
2 GREEK ROOTS Ancient Greeks would probably not recognize their sport today Still the roots of modern gymnastics are unmistakably Greek Gymnastics was born in Greece more than 2,000 years ago Physical fitness was important to the ancient Greeks Their culture valued warriors and athletes The Greeks devoted a lot of time to athletic feats such as running tumbling and vaulting They trained in gymnasiums to make their bodies strong In the beginning gymnastics meant all the activities practiced in the gymnasium The first modern Olympics were held at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens Greece 8 8
