INSIDE GYMNASTICS

“Fall seven times, stand up eight “ 

This is my favorite quote about gymnastics because it is true in every single way.  If you fall, you have to get back up no matter what.  It is a sport of true passion and love.  If you’d like to learn more about gymnastics, then continue reading this article an you’ll learn more about the history of gymnastics, how the scoring works, and all of the hours and hard work that goes into the sport.  Let’s start with some history.

 

HISTORY

Gymnastics originated in ancient Greece in the late 19th century.  It was originally made for military training so that soldiers could prepare for warfare.  The sport was invented by Friedrich Ludwig Jahn and Johann Friedrich GutsMuths.  Jahn was convinced that he could restore the spirits of soldiers that had been to war by developing their physical and moral powers through gymnastics.  At this time, only men were allowed to practice gymnastics.  By the beginning of the 20th century men’s gymnastics competitions were popular enough to be included in the first modern Olympics.  Approximately 20 years later, women got together and organized/participated in gymnastics events.  In 1954, apparatuses and events had been standardized in modern format, and there were excellent gymnasts (men and woman) found on every continent.

                                                                          

LIFESTYLE

The level of the gymnast depends on how many hours they train, and how efficient they are.  Most elite gymnasts train 25-30 hours a week.  5-6 hours per day, 5-6 days per week.  Olympian gymnasts train 32 hours per week which includes a 2-3 hour morning training and a 3-4 hour afternoon training.  These Olympian gymnasts train 6 days per week.  So that about sums up the life of a gymnast: Go to the gym, go to school, back to the gym, and finally sleep!  Now that you know the dedication and hard work gymnasts put into the sport, let’s move on to competitions and how the scoring works.

 

COMPETITIONS

After summer training ends, completion season begins.  This is when all the competitions are held, from November to the end of May.  The gymnasts will have their routines made and, hopefully, perfected.  They then show them to the judges and the judges will score them.  

There are two parts to scoring, your start value score (S.V.), and your execution score (E score).  In Canada and the USA, your start value is out of a ten.  This is the Junior Olympic program (J.O.).  If you do not have all the skills required or you didn’t connect something, there will be a deduction taken off your S.V.  If you do not point your toes or you bend your legs, etc., those deductions are your E score and it will be deducted from your S.V. at the end.

At elite competitions, there is a different scoring code from 1-15, it is called FIG (International Federation of Gymnastics).  In this case, your start value has the same rules as J.O., out of a ten.  Then you have your D score (Difficulty score).  Basically, the higher difficulty of skills in your routine, the higher your D score will be.  The e score is also the same as in J.O.  

And there you have it!  Maybe you could become a judge someday and score some famous gymnasts!

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So now that you know what elite gymnastics is, you might want to become an elite gymnast yourself. I hope you enjoyed reading this article and that you want to know more and more about gymnastics.  For further information see the rest of the website!