In the picture, a female gymnast executes a jump. Her body is bending.
SPORTS

FEMALE ARTISTIC

GYMNASTIC Female Artistic Gymnastics combines speed, strength, coordination and elegance. All these artistic and acrobatic skills are achieved thanks to an emphasis on technique.

It is a specialty that is performed in four device: vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor. The female competition offers a highly technical and with great plasticity exhibition, requiring a great physical and mental preparation. In #Santiago2023 this sport will offer quota places for the next Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

In the picture, the body of a female gymnast that is jumping can be seen. She is wearing a blue uniform. Her legs are extended and her hand in position of holding a device of the discipline.

History of this sport

Gymnastics was born in ancient Greece, where physical ability was a prized attribute, and the body development was the goal to achieve through athletics in its purest form: running and jumping. The ancient romans also practiced gymnastics, but with the objective to physically prepare their soldiers for battle.

The term “artistic gymnastics” arose in the beginning of the 19th century, to separate the light styles from the techniques used in military training. This discipline was introduced in the Athens 1895 Olympic Games, but It was only practiced by men.

After a long time, female teams were allowed to participate in gymnastics at the Amsterdam 1928 Olympic Games, and in the Pan American Games it was introduced in its first edition, celebrated in Buenos Aires 1951.

In the women’s medal count in the Pan American Games the participation of United States stands out, with 63 gold medals.

In the picture, the body of a female gymnast that is jumping can be seen. She is wearing a blue uniform. Her legs are extended and her hand in position of holding a device of the discipline.

How do you practice it?

Artistic Gymnastics, in the women’s category, has three competition modes: individual general, individual finals per device and team competition.

In the individual competition, this contest determines the champion by teams and the qualification for the individual general finals, and finals per device.

The final score, that depends on the difficulty and execution, is obtained from the sum that the athlete achieved in each device.

In the individual finals per device, the athlete that obtained the best qualification in each device is defined. In this phase, the top eight athletes from the classification rounds will compete for the gold.

In the team competitions, the top eight teams with the best scores from the classifying round will compete for the podium.

Devices in women’s artistic gymnastics

The gymnasts compete in a device composed by two bars, one lower and one upper bar. The routine includes transitions between both bars, pirouettes, flight elements and a final jump. The runs may not last more than 30 seconds.

The competition is held on a bar 10 cm wide by 5 cm tall. The run is performed on the entire bar, with no interruptions, with acrobatic, gymnastic and dance movements.

This event is performed on a surface made of a wooden platform on metal springs and mats necessary to ease the execution of the acrobatic movements that require jumps and aerial phases. Gymnasts must use acrobatic, gymnastic and dance movements to obtain a high score. The competition lasts between 50 and 70 seconds. Unlike the men’s routine, this is performed with music and the artistic performance is also evaluated.

It is composed by a 25m running strip, a trampoline or Reuter and the Vaulting table. The event’s phases are running start, vault, hand support on the vaulting table, aerial phase and both feet landing. Vaults start with a fast or accelerated run, and then the gymnast jumps on the trampoline, elevating her feet over her head. The second flight and landing are critical phases. The height and distance achieve is closely evaluated, as well as the number of somersaults and spins. Also, gymnasts must plant their feet upon landing, avoiding any movements or taking a step.

Quiz

What device is not included in the women’s gymnastics?

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Information for the community

Tomás González, who was an Olympic finalist in London 2012 and Rio 2016, is the best Chilean gymnast of all time. With the inspiration of his shape and his sports achievements, in 2016 a gymnastics school is created that carries his name and aims to contribute with the development of national sport. This centre has two branches, one located in las Condes in the Iván Zamorano Sports City and the other one is in Llanquihue, a location in the south of Chile.

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