68-765: The Artistic Gymnastics World Cup is a competition series for artistic gymnastics sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). It is one of the few tournaments in artistic gymnastics officially organized by FIG, as well as the World Championships and the gymnastics competitions at the Olympic Games and the Youth Olympics . Beginning in the 2017-2020 quadrennium, the All-Around and Individual Apparatus World Cup series are used to qualify
136-419: A springboard . Harnessing the energy of the spring, the gymnast directs their body hands-first toward the vault. Body position is maintained while "popping" (blocking using only a shoulder movement) the vaulting platform. The gymnast then rotates their body to land standing on the far side of the vault. In advanced gymnastics, multiple twists and somersaults may be added before landing. Successful vaults depend on
204-605: A "low beam" close to the floor. By the 1920s, the beam was raised much higher due to Swedish influence on the sport. Gymnasts perform routines ranging from 70 to 90 seconds long, consisting of leaps, acrobatic skills, turns, and dance elements on a padded spring beam. Apparatus norms set by the FIG specify that the beam must be 125 cm (4 ft) high, 500 cm (16 ft) long, and 10 cm (3.9 in) wide. The event requires balance, flexibility, and strength. Of all gymnastics apparatuses—men's or women's—balance beam has proven
272-573: A 90-second choreographed routine to instrumental music. Their routines include tumbling passes, jumps, dance elements, acrobatic skills, and turns. Elite gymnasts may perform up to four tumbling passes. On the men's side, the gymnasts who have won the most Olympic or World Championship titles on floor are Marian Drăgulescu of Romania, with four (along with Roland Brückner , if the Alternate Olympics are included). Ihor Korobchynskyi , Vitaly Scherbo , and Kenzō Shirai have three titles each. On
340-403: A circular motion (clockwise or counterclockwise, depending on preference). To make the exercise more challenging, gymnasts will often include variations on typical circling skills by turning ("moores" and "spindles") or by straddling their legs ( "flares" ). Routines end when the gymnast performs a dismount by swinging his body over the horse or landing after a handstand. The gymnasts who have won
408-471: A few decades. For male gymnasts, the Olympic order is: For female gymnasts, the Olympic order is: The vault is both an event and the primary equipment used in that event. Unlike most gymnastic events employing apparatuses, the vault is standard in men's and women's competitions, with little difference. A gymnast sprints down a runway, which is a maximum of 25 m (82 ft) in length, before leaping onto
476-478: A firm surface that will respond with force when compressed, allowing gymnasts to achieve extra height and a softer landing than possible on a regular floor. Men perform without music for 60 to 70 seconds and must touch each floor corner at least once during their routine. Their routines include tumbling passes demonstrating flexibility, strength, balance, and power. They must also show non-acrobatic skills, including circles, scales, and press handstands. Women perform
544-474: A larger blocking surface—and is, therefore, safer than the old vaulting horse. This new, safer apparatus led gymnasts to attempt more difficult vaults. On the men's side, the gymnasts who have won the most Olympic or World Championship titles on vault are Marian Drăgulescu of Romania and Ri Se-gwang of North Korea, with four titles each. Yang Hak-seon , Eugen Mack , Alexei Nemov , Vitaly Scherbo , Li Xiaopeng , and Lou Yun have each won three titles. On
612-600: A maximum of seven spots to the Olympic Games. The Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) hosted the first artistic gymnastics on an international scale in 1975. This genre of sport from then onwards was named as the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup, an original competition reserved for the current best gymnasts. It was composed of a single and unique event, bringing together very few gymnasts in all around competition and in apparatus finals. This initiative
680-612: A non-nominative spot at the All-Around World Cup series and a nominative spot at the Individual Apparatus World Cup series, they are ineligible to earn a third additional spot, even if their gymnast wins the continental championship. Second, gymnasts who competed at the World Championships and qualified a spot with the team are not eligible to qualify a spot through the Individual Apparatus World Cup series or
748-443: A number of different world championships for each of the disciplines in competitive gymnastics . The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) organizes World Championships for six disciplines: acrobatic gymnastics , aerobic gymnastics , artistic gymnastics , parkour , rhythmic gymnastics , as well as trampoline and tumbling . The International Federation of Aesthetic Group Gymnastics (IFAGG) organizes World Championships for
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#1733084680287816-412: A ranking which would qualify individual gymnasts for the biennial World Cup Final. In 2009 and 2010, events in the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup series were divided into Category A events (reserved for invited athletes only) and Category B events (open to all athletes). In 2011 and 2012, the individual apparatus competitions were renamed World Challenge Cup events while the all-around competitions retained
884-581: A team event, women's gymnastics entered the Olympics in 1928 and the World Championships in 1950 . Individual women were recognized in the all-around as early as the 1934 World Championships. The existing women's program—all-around and event finals on the vault , uneven bars , balance beam , and floor exercise —was introduced at the 1950 World Championships and at the 1952 Summer Olympics . The earliest champions in women's gymnastics tended to be in their 20s, and most had studied ballet for years before entering
952-425: Is 4–3–3, meaning that of the four gymnasts on the team, three compete in each event, and all three scores count. In the all-around finals (abbreviated AA), gymnasts compete individually in all four or six events; their totals determine the all-around medals. Only two gymnasts per country may advance to the all-around finals from the qualification round. In the event finals (abbreviated EF) or apparatus finals ,
1020-423: Is 4–4–3, meaning that all four gymnasts compete in each event, but only the top three scores count. Individual gymnasts may qualify for the all-around and event finals, but their scores do not count toward the team's total. In the team finals (abbreviated TF), gymnasts compete with their national squad on all four or six events. The scores from the session determine the medalists in the team competition. The format
1088-439: Is an invitation-only series of competitions for the top countries at the previous year's World Championships or Olympic Games . Each of the eight competing countries at any given cup has the option to choose any one gymnast to compete with the exception of the host country, which has a wild-card spot for a second gymnast. After each stage, all gymnasts (not just medal winners) are awarded points according to their placement, with
1156-416: Is declared after a two-year long series, beginning shortly after the World Championships or Olympic Games in an even-numbered year and concluding two years later. From 1997 to 2008, a series of World Cup qualifiers were staged. The top 3 gymnasts in each apparatus at the qualifier events would receive medals and prize money. Gymnasts who finished in the top 8 would also receive points that would be added up to
1224-519: Is regulated by national federations such as British Gymnastics and USA Gymnastics . Artistic gymnastics is a popular spectator sport at many competitions, including the Summer Olympic Games . The gymnastic system was mentioned in writings by ancient authors, including Homer , Aristotle , and Plato . It included many disciplines that later became independent sports, such as swimming, racing , wrestling , boxing , and horse riding . It
1292-504: The 2008 Olympics , the silver medalist on vault, Oksana Chusovitina , was a 33-year-old mother. By the 2016 Olympics , the average age of female gymnasts was over 20, and it was almost 22 at the 2020 Olympics . Both male and female gymnasts are judged for execution, degree of difficulty , and overall presentation. In many competitions, especially high-level ones sanctioned by the FIG, gymnasts compete in " Olympic order ", which has changed over time but has stayed consistent for at least
1360-517: The 2016 Summer Olympics that the test event for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan and subsequent Olympics would no longer serve to qualify additional teams and individual event specialists. Instead, placements at the World Championships in the two years prior to the Olympics would determine the qualified teams, while individual athletes would have a number of ways to qualify: World Championships all-around and event placement, all-around placement at
1428-498: The qualification round (abbreviated TQ), gymnasts compete with their national squad in all four (WAG) or six (MAG) events. The scores from this session are not used to award medals but rather to determine which teams advance to the team finals and which individual gymnasts advance to the all-around and event finals. For the 2020 Olympics , teams will consist of four gymnasts, with up to two additional gymnasts per country allowed to compete as individuals. The format of team qualifications
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#17330846802871496-460: The 1997–1998 season. At the World Cup Final, gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded to individual athletes in each apparatus. Eight standalone World Cup events had been staged from 1975 to 1990, and FIG retroactively named these events World Cup Final. The gymnasts were invited to these world cups based on results from the previous world championships or Olympic Games . From 1997 to 2008,
1564-538: The Alternate Olympics are included. The parallel bars consist of two bars slightly further than shoulder-width apart and usually 1.75 m (5.7 ft) high. Gymnasts execute a series of swings, balancing moves, and releases that require strength and coordination. The gymnasts who have won the most Olympic and/or World Championship titles on parallel bars are Vladimir Artemov of the Soviet Union (5, including
1632-586: The Alternate Olympics are included. The uneven bars (known as asymmetric bars in the UK) were adapted by the Czechoslovakian Sokol from the men's parallel bars sometime before World War I and were shown in international exhibition for the first time at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. They consist of two horizontal bars set at different heights. Gymnasts perform swings, pirouettes, transition moves between
1700-466: The Alternate Olympics) and Li Xiaopeng and Zou Jingyuan of China (4). Li Jing and Vitaly Scherbo have each won three titles. The horizontal bar (also known as the high bar) is a 2.4 cm (0.94 in) thick steel bar raised 2.5 m (8.2 ft) above the ground. The gymnast performs 'giants' (360-degree revolutions around the bar), release skills, twists, and direction changes. Using
1768-523: The Code of Points and evolving popular opinion in the sport, led to the return of older gymnasts. While there are still gymnasts who are successful as teenagers, it is common to see gymnasts competing and winning medals well into their 20s. At the 2004 Olympics , women captained both the second-place American team and the third-place Russians in their mid-20s; several other teams, including those from Australia, France, and Canada, included older gymnasts as well. At
1836-610: The Code of Points and the gymnast's strengths, compulsory routines were created and choreographed by the FIG Technical Committee. The dance and tumbling skills were generally less demanding than those in optional routines, but perfect technique, form, and execution were heavily emphasized. Scoring was exacting, with judges taking deductions for even slight deviations from the required choreography. For this reason, many gymnasts and coaches considered compulsories more challenging than optionals. Compulsory exercises were eliminated at
1904-684: The FIG: the All-Around World Cup series (C-II), the Individual Apparatus World Cup (C-III) series, and the World Challenge Cup series. For the All-Around World Cup series, gymnasts' standing counts toward their countries' final placement. For the latter two series, gymnasts' standing counts toward their own individual ranking, and they do not pool results with their teammates. The two individual apparatus series are open to all athletes and are especially popular among athletes from countries with smaller gymnastics programs. The All-Around World Cup series, however,
1972-479: The Individual Apparatus World Cup series over the next two years. In anticipation of their countries' qualifying a full team to the Olympics at the 2018 World Championships , several gymnasts, most notably uneven bars specialist Fan Yilin of China , vault and floor exercise specialist Jade Carey of the United States , and vault specialist Maria Paseka of Russia announced that they would not try to qualify for
2040-411: The Olympic Games. Specifically, the first, second, and third-place finishing countries in the All-Around World Cup series in the Olympic year each qualify a non-nominative spot to the Olympic Games in addition to the four team spots qualified at a previous World Championship. The winning countries are announced in the spring, and they are required to give the spot to a gymnast by the deadline shortly before
2108-404: The Olympics so that the spots would be most accurately distributed based on a country's depth. Gymnasts are not allowed to qualify spots from multiple different ways. Spots are awarded in chronological order, meaning the first spots are awarded at the World Championships in the two years prior to the Olympics, followed by the non-nominative spots won by countries in the All-Around World Cup series in
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2176-422: The Olympics that summer. The Individual Apparatus World Cup series allows four additional gymnasts to qualify Olympic spots. The overall winner on each apparatus for the series beginning two years before the Olympics and concluding the spring of the Olympic year wins a nominative spot to the Olympics, meaning they are not dependent on their countries' federation to grant them a spot. Each gymnast can only qualify as
2244-414: The Olympics until 1928 . The World Artistic Gymnastics Championships , held since 1903, were only open to men until 1934 . Since then, two branches of artistic gymnastics have developed: women's artistic gymnastics (WAG) and men's artistic gymnastics (MAG). Unlike men's and women's branches of many other sports, WAG and MAG differ significantly in technique and apparatuses used at major competitions. As
2312-531: The World Championships so that they would not be prevented from qualifying a nominative spot through the Individual Apparatus World Cup series. What follows is a list of nations which have earned at least one medal at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup circuit. Results accounted for include: 1) FIG World Cup Final events, staged between 1975 and 2008; 2) all of the stages from the World Cup series (including World Cup Qualifiers from 1997 to 2008) up to 2024; and 3) all of
2380-413: The World Cup name. Since 2013, the World Cup series has been divided into three groups: 1) the All-Around World Cup series; 2) the World Challenge Cup series; and 3) the Individual Apparatus World Cup series. All of the World Challenge Cup and Individual Apparatus World Cup competitions remain open to all athletes, while the All-Around World Cup competitions are by invitation only, according to the results of
2448-619: The World Cup series of qualifying events were the only way athletes could qualify for the World Cup Final. At the FIG Council in Cape Town (South Africa) in May 2008, members decided to no longer run any world cup and series finals for all FIG disciplines from January 2009. In 2011, the apparatus competitions were renamed World Challenge Cups while the all-around competitions kept the World Cup name. In 2013, FIG created three distinct competition series with
2516-462: The all-around. The team event is not contested in other meets, such as on the World Cup circuit . Since 1989, competitions have used the "new life" rule, under which scores from one session do not carry over to the next. In other words, a gymnast's performance in team finals does not affect their scores in the all-around finals or event finals, and marks from the team qualifying round do not count toward
2584-408: The bars, and releases. Higher-level gymnasts usually wear leather grips to ensure a firm hold on the bars while protecting their hands from painful blisters and tears (known as rips). Gymnasts sometimes wet their grips with water from a spray bottle and may apply chalk to prevent the grips from slipping. Chalk may also be applied to the hands and bar if grips are not worn. The gymnasts who have won
2652-400: The continental championships, as these spots, whether nominative or non-nominative, are won by an individual gymnast. They are, however, still eligible to be named to a non-nominative individual spot for their country and compete at the Olympics as long as an eligible gymnast won the spot they are using. Despite this option, in 2018 several gymnasts decided to try to win a nominative spot through
2720-409: The country with the most points total is victorious. Only the winning nation receives a cup at the end of the series, while the top three gymnasts receive prize money. The All-Around World Cup and the World Challenge Cup series are both one-year long series, with the competing nations at the All-Around World Cup series changing yearly. For the Individual Apparatus World Cup, the winner in each apparatus
2788-621: The end of 1996. The move was highly controversial, with many successful gymnastics federations—including the United States, Russia, and China—arguing that the compulsory exercises helped maintain a high standard of form, technique, and execution among gymnasts. Opponents of compulsory exercises believed that they harmed emerging gymnastics programs. Some members of the gymnastics community still argue that compulsories should be reinstated, and many gymnastics federations have maintained compulsories in their national programs. Often, gymnasts competing at
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2856-532: The first gymnastics clubs were Turnvereins and Sokols . The FIG was founded in 1881 and remains the governing body of international gymnastics. The organization began with three countries and was called the European Gymnastics Federation until 1921, when the first non-European countries joined, and it was reorganized into its modern form. Gymnastics was included in the 1896 Summer Olympics , but female gymnasts were not allowed to participate in
2924-657: The floor and adjusted in height so the gymnast has room to hang freely and swing. Gymnasts must demonstrate balance, strength, power, and dynamic motion while preventing the rings themselves from swinging. At least one static strength move is required, but some gymnasts include two or three. The gymnasts who have won the most Olympic and/or World Championship titles on still rings are Jury Chechi of Italy (6) and Chen Yibing of China (5). Nikolai Andrianov , Albert Azaryan , Alexander Dityatin , Alois Hudec , Akinori Nakayama , Eleftherios Petrounias , and Liu Yang each have at least three such titles, as does Dmitry Bilozerchev if
2992-634: The lower levels of the sport—for instance, Levels 2-5 in USA Gymnastics, Grade 2 in South Africa, and Levels 3–6 in Australia—only perform compulsory routines. Artistic gymnasts compete only with other gymnasts at their level. Each athlete starts at the lowest level and advances to higher levels by learning more complex skills and achieving qualifying scores at competitions. World Gymnastics Championships Gymnastics World Championships refers to
3060-486: The minimum age for senior international competition from 14 to 15. However, the change, which came into effect two years later, did not eliminate the problem. By the time of the 1992 Summer Olympics , elite gymnasts consisted almost exclusively of "pixies" – underweight young teenagers – and concerns were raised about athletes' welfare. In 1997, the FIG responded to this trend by raising the minimum age for international elite competition to 16. This, combined with changes in
3128-490: The momentum from giants, enough height can be achieved for spectacular dismounts, such as a triple-back somersault. Leather grips are usually used to help maintain a hold on the bar. The gymnast who has won the most Olympic and World Championship titles on the horizontal bar is Epke Zonderland of the Netherlands, with four titles. Zou Kai , Leon Štukelj , and Takashi Ono have each won three, as has Dmitry Bilozerchev if
3196-423: The most Olympic and/or World Championship titles on pommel horse are Miroslav Cerar of Yugoslavia, Zoltán Magyar of Hungary, and Max Whitlock of Great Britain, with five titles each. Krisztián Berki , Dmitry Bilozerchev , Pae Gil-su , Xiao Qin , Boris Shakhlin , and Marius Urzică , have won at least three titles apiece. The still rings are suspended on wire cable from a point 5.8 m (19 ft) off
3264-405: The most Olympic and/or World Championship titles on uneven bars are Svetlana Khorkina of Russia (7) and Maxi Gnauck of East Germany (5, including the Alternate Olympics). Daniela Silivaș of Romania and Nina Derwael of Belgium have each won three titles. Aliya Mustafina won back-to-back uneven bar Olympic titles in 2012 and 2016. The balance beam existed as early as the 1880s in the form of
3332-479: The most difficult on which to win multiple Olympic and World Championship titles. Simone Biles has four World titles on this event, and there are only two other gymnasts to have won three Championship titles in total for Olympic and Worlds — Nadia Comăneci and Daniela Silivaș of Romania. In Olympic and World Championship competitions, meets are divided into several sessions on different days: qualifications, team finals, all-around finals, and event finals. During
3400-645: The numerous continental championships in the Olympic Year, and the Cup series. FIG later released a video explaining the specifics of the new qualification process, including the role of the various World Cup series. While the World Challenge Cup Series remains strictly a series of individual competitions, the final All-Around World Cup (C-II) series and Individual Apparatus World Cup (C-III) series gain importance as they allow gymnasts to qualify additional spots to
3468-547: The previous World Championships or Olympic Games . In 2021, the All-Around World Cup series was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic and has not been brought back for the 2021-2024 Olympic cycle. A number of nations across six different continents have hosted the events, including the World Cup Finals, World Cup qualifiers, as well as the World Cup and World Challenge Cup stages from 1975 to 2024. FIG announced prior to
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#17330846802873536-416: The purpose of awarding points to individual gymnasts and groups according to their placements. These points would be added up over the two-year period to qualify a limited number of athletes to the biennial World Cup Final event. Six World Cup Final events were staged in even years from 1998 to 2008. For example, the World Cup Final competition in 1998 served as the last stage of a series of competitions through
3604-475: The reintroduction of the Individual Apparatus World Cup series, along with the existing All-Around World Cup series and the World Challenge Cup series. Beginning in 2009, the World Cup has been competed strictly as a series of stages with no culminating final event. In each of the stages, the top three gymnasts in each apparatus or the all-around, depending on the type of competition, are awarded medals and prize money. There are currently three separate series run by
3672-408: The same country wins the floor exercise title, a tiebreaker is used to determine which one qualifies to the Olympic Games. However, if the overall winners of the two apparatus series are both from a country which has not qualified a full team at the World Championships, both advance to the Olympics. The FIG also announced a policy to prevent countries from using one gymnast to qualify multiple spots to
3740-533: The second day. Team medals were determined based on the combined scores of both days, as were the qualifiers to the all-around and event finals. However, the all-around and event finals did not include compulsory routines. In meets where team titles were not contested, such as the American Cup , there were two days of all-around competition: one for compulsories and another for optionals. While each gymnast and their coach developed optional routines in accordance with
3808-476: The speed of the run, the length of the hurdle, the power the gymnast generates from the legs and shoulder girdle, kinesthetic awareness in the air, and the speed of rotation in the case of more challenging and complex vaults. In 2004, the traditional vaulting horse was replaced with a new apparatus, sometimes known as a tongue or table. It is more stable, wider, and longer than the older vaulting horse—about 1 m (3.3 ft) in length and width, giving gymnasts
3876-421: The sport. Larisa Latynina , the first great Soviet gymnast, won her first Olympic all-around medal at age 22 and her second at 26; she became world champion in 1958 while pregnant. Věra Čáslavská of Czechoslovakia, who followed Latynina and became a two-time Olympic all-around champion, was 22 when she won her first Olympic gold medal. In the 1970s, the average age of Olympic gymnasts began to decrease. While it
3944-471: The spring of the Olympic year, followed by the nominative spots won by individual gymnasts in the Individual Apparatus World Cup series, followed by the non-nominative spots won by gymnasts at the continental championships generally held in the summer. The qualification rule combined with the chronological awarding of spots has two major consequences. First, since countries that qualified full teams are only eligible for two additional, non-team spots, if they win
4012-509: The stages from the World Challenge Cup events, since 2011. Artistic gymnastics Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the Code of Points used to score performances and regulates all aspects of elite international competition. Within individual countries, gymnastics
4080-414: The team finals. Before this rule was introduced, the scores from the team competition carried over into the all-around and event finals. Final results and medal placement were determined by combining the following scores: Until 1997, the team competition consisted of two sessions, with every gymnast performing standardized compulsory routines in the preliminaries and individualized optional routines on
4148-419: The top eight gymnasts in each event (as determined by scores in the qualification round) compete for medals. Only two gymnasts per country may advance to each event final. Competitions other than the Olympics and World Championships may use different formats. For instance, the 2007 Pan American Games had only one team competition day with a 6–5–4 format, and three athletes per country were allowed to advance to
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#17330846802874216-421: The winner of each competition receiving the maximum number of 30 points per competition. After the last event of the World Cup series, the three or four best results at the World Cup stages count towards a ranking list. The same is true for the World Challenge Cup series. The individual gymnast with the highest number of points in each apparatus is then declared the winner of the series. For the All-Around World Cup,
4284-442: The winner of one event, meaning if a gymnast wins the series on both uneven bars and balance beam, they still only use one of the available spots to qualify to the Olympics. Additionally, countries that have already qualified a full team at a prior World Championship can only win up to one additional spot from each Cup series. If a gymnast from a previously qualified country wins the overall vault series title, and another gymnast from
4352-418: The women's side, Simone Biles of the United States has the most titles with seven, followed by Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union with four. Gina Gogean , Daniela Silivaș , and Nellie Kim have three titles each. A typical pommel horse exercise involves both single-leg and double-leg work. Single-leg skills are generally found in the form of "scissors". In double leg work, the gymnast swings both legs in
4420-433: The women's side, Věra Čáslavská of Czechoslovakia and Simone Biles of the United States are tied for the most titles, with four. Simona Amânar , Cheng Fei , Elena Zamolodchikova , and Rebeca Andrade have each won three. The floor event occurs on a carpeted 12 m × 12 m (39 ft × 39 ft) square consisting of rigid foam over a layer of plywood supported by springs or foam blocks. This provides
4488-485: Was also used for military training. Gymnastics evolved in Bohemia and what later became Germany at the beginning of the 19th century. The term "artistic gymnastics" was introduced to distinguish freestyle performances from those used by the military. The German educator Friedrich Ludwig Jahn , who was known as the father of gymnastics, invented several apparatus, including the horizontal bar and parallel bars . Two of
4556-475: Was not unheard of for teenagers to compete in the 1960s – Ludmilla Tourischeva was 16 at her first Olympics in 1968 – younger female gymnasts slowly became the norm as the sport's difficulty increased. Smaller, lighter girls generally excelled in the more challenging acrobatic elements required by the redesigned Code of Points . The 58th Congress of the FIG – held in July 1980, just before the Olympics – decided to raise
4624-505: Was taken in a particular context, since the world championships took place merely every four years. The world cup event held every year for artistic gymnastics was, however, upheld only until 1990. In 1997, the World Cup was revived as a series of qualifying events for a period of two years, culminating in a final event that was known as the World Cup Final . The different stages, sometimes referred to as World Cup qualifiers, mostly served
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