A Brief History of Gymnastics

Gymnastics is a graceful and artistic sport thatgymnastics was popular enough to be included in the
requires a combination of strength, balance, agility, andfirst modern Olympic Games held in 1896. The sport
muscle coordination, usually performed on specializedwas a little different from what we currently know as
apparatus. Gymnasts perform sequences ofgymnastics however. Up until the early 1950s, both
movements requiring flexibility, endurance, andnational and international competitions involved a
kinesthetic awareness, such as handsprings,changing variety of exercises the modern gymnast
handstands, split leaps, aerials and cartwheels.may find a bit odd such as synchronized team floor
Gymnastics as we know it dates back to ancientcalisthenics, rope climbing, high jumping, running, and
Greece. The early Greeks practiced gymnastics tohorizontal ladder just to name a few.
prepare for war. Activities like jumping, running, discusWomen first started to participate in gymnastics
throwing, wrestling, and boxing helped develop theevents in the 1920s and the first women's Olympic
muscles needed for hand-to-hand combat. Additionalcompetition was held in the 1928 Games in
fitness practices used by the ancient Greeks includedAmsterdam, although the only event was
methods for mounting and dismounting a horses and asynchronized calisthenics. Combined exercises for
variety of circus performance skills.women were first held in 1928, and the 1952 Olympics
Gymnastics became a central component of ancientfeatured the first full regime of events for women.
Greek education and was mandatory for all students.By the 1954 Olympic Games apparatus and events
Gymnasia, buildings with open-air courts where thefor both men and women had been standardized in
training took place, evolved into schools wheremodern format, and scoring standards, including a point
gymnastics, rhetoric, music, and mathematics weresystem from 1 to 10, were implemented.
taught. The ancinet Olympic Games were born nearModern Men's gymnastics events are scored on an
this time.individual and team basis, and presently include the
As the Roman Empire ascended, Greek gymnasticsfloor exercise, horizontal bar, parallel bars, rings,
for was more or less turned into military training. In 393pommel horse, vaulting, and the all-around, which
AD the Emperor Theodosius abolished the Olympiccombines the scores of the other six events.
Games completely. The games had become corrupt,Women's gymnastic events include balance beam,
and gymnastics, along with other sports declined. Foruneven parallel bars, combined exercises, floor
centuries, gymnastics was all but forgotten.exercises, vaulting, and rhythmic sportive gymnastics.
In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuriesUntil 1972, gymnastics for men emphasized power and
two pioneer physical educators, Johann Friedrichstrength, while women performed routines focused on
GutsMuth and Friedrich Ludwig Jahn created exercisesgrace of movement. That year, however, a
for boys and young men on sseveral apparatus they17-year-old Soviet gymnast named Olga Korbut
had designed. This innovation ultimately led to what iscaptivated a television audience with her innovative
considered modern gymnastics. As a result, Friedrichand explosive routines.
Jahn became known as the "father of gymnastics".Nadia Comaneci received the first perfect score, at
Jahn introduced the horizontal bar, parallel bars, sidethe 1976 Olympic Games held in Montreal, Canada.
horse with pommels, balance beam, ladder, and vaultingShe was coached by the famous Romanian, Bela
horse.Karolyi. Comaneci scored four of her perfect tens on
In the early nineteenth century, educators in the Unitedthe uneven bars, two on the balance beam and one in
States followed suit and adopted German andthe floor exercise. Nadia will always be remembered
Swedish gymnastics training programs. By the earlyas "a fourteen year old, ponytailed little girl" who
twentieth century, the armed services began publishingshowed the world that perfection could be achieved.
drill manuals featuring all manner of gymnasticMary Lou Retton became America's sweetheart with
exercises. According to the US Army Manual ofher two perfect scores and her gold medal in the
Physical Drill, these important drills provided properAll-Around competition in front of the home crowd in
instruction for the bodies of active young men.the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
As time went by, however, military activity movedThese days gymnastics is a household name and
away from hand-to-hand combat and toward fightermany children participate in gymnastics at one time or
planes and contemporary computer-controlledanother as they grow up. Olga Korbut, Nadia
weapons. As a result of the development of modernComaneci, and Mary Lou Retton, along with all those
warfare, gymnastics training as the mind and bodygymnasts since, have helped popularize women's
connection, so important for the Greek, German, andcompetitive gymnastics, making it one of the most
Swedish educational traditions, began to lose force.watched Olympic events. Both men's and women's
Gymnastics once again took on the aura of being agymnastics now attract considerable international
competitive sport.interest, and excellent gymnasts can be found on
By the end of the nineteenth century, men'severy continent.