Olympic sport since 1896
The Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) was formed on 23 July 1881
when representatives of the gymnastics associations of Belgium, France and the
Netherlands met in Liège. As a governing body it is held in high esteem by both
its member federations and gymnastics clubs throughout five continents. In 1897,
seventeen national associations joined together to form the basis of the
European Gymnastics Federation. However, when the USA was admitted in 1921, the
Committee changed its name to the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique or
FIG, as it is known today.
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| China's Pang Panpan performs during the women's beam final of the
Shanghai FIG World Cup gymnastics competition in Shanghai July 16, 2006.
[Reuters] |
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FIG comprises three Olympic disciplines: artistic, rhythmic and trampoline.
Each discipline is controlled by a Technical Committee made up of a Technical
President and six members.The Technical Committees are responsible for the
coordination and control of their specific discipline in terms of the technical
requirements for competition as they relate to each specific discipline.
A perfect fusion of athletics and aesthetics, gymnastics ranks among the
defining sports of the Olympic Games. Mixing strength and agility with style and
grace, the high-flying acrobats have provided many of the most breathtaking
Olympic spectacles of the past quarter-century.
Nadia Comeneci's perfect 10 score at the 1976 Montreal Games, the first ever
awarded, remains the high-water mark for most gymnastics fans. The 14-year-old
Romanian achieved the seemingly impossible seven times in Montreal, a feat so
unexpected that the scoring technology was set up for only three digits. Her
10.00s were displayed as 1.00.
Gymnastics has a long, proud history. The sport can be traced back to ancient
Greece, where such skills featured in the ancient Olympic Games. Ancient Rome,
Persia, India and China practised similar disciplines, mostly aimed at preparing
young men for battle. The word itself derives from the Greek word gymnos,
meaning naked - dress requirements for athletes in those days were minimal, to
say the least.
COMPETITION
In artistic events (performed on an apparatus), men compete in floor, pommel
horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bars. Female gymnasts compete
on the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor. The competition includes
all-round events and team events, also scored over each apparatus.
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Men |
Women |
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floor exercises
horizontal bar
individual all-round
parallel bars
pommel horse
rings
team
competition
vault |
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balance
beam
floor exercises
individual all-round
team competition
uneven bars
vault
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