HISTORY OF GYMNASTICS

Gymnastics began about 2500 years ago in ancient Greece where it was used to train to keep fit for
sports activities. Gymnastics started as ancient civilizations doing strength and acrobatic exercises. The
word gymnastics comes from the Greek words “gymnos” and “gymnazo” meaning roughly to train, to
exercise naked. In the City of Athens, gymnastic tournaments were held. The Greeks believed that
symmetry between the mind and body was possible only when physical exercise was coupled with
intellectual activity. Because of their love for these tournaments, the Athenians sponsored the ancient
Olympics.

When the Roman’s conquered Greece, they found out that the sport was very valuable especially in
their military training. But when the Roman Empire fell, gymnastic also vanished for hundreds of years.

Johann Christoph Friedrich Gutsmuths, a German teacher and educator, is considered the great
grandfather of gymnastics. In 1793 he published a textbook which was later translated to English as
“Gymnastics for Youth: or a Practical Guide to Healthful and Amusing Exercises for the use of Schools”.

A fellow German, Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, is known as the father of gymnastics. He was a member of the
Prussian army in the early 1800s. After a battle in which the Prussian army was defeated, he came up
with the idea of improving morale by developing physical and mental strength through gymnastics. He
opened the first Turnplatz, or open air gymnasium in 1811. Parallel Bars, rings and high bar were
practiced at this gym.

Today, Gymnastics is often referred as the ultimate combination of sport and art, but the idea is nothing
new. The term “artistic gymnastics” emerged in the early 1800s to distinguish between free-flowing
styles from the techniques used by the military.

In 1881 gymnastics became an “organized sport” when the Bureau of the European Gymnastics
Federation, which would later become the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG,) was formed. FIG is
the current international gymnastics governing body.

Gymnastics was becoming more popular and was included in the first “modern” Olympic Games in
1896. At this time, the gymnastics events were different than they are today. In fact, they included some
events that are currently part of Track and Field. Some of the events competed were men’s horizontal
bar, parallel bars, pommel horse, rings, vault, high jumping, rope climbing and running. Track and Field
events didn’t disappear from the sport of gymnastics until 1954. Women weren’t allowed to compete at
Olympic gymnastic events until the 1920s.
History of Gymnastics Timeline

1793: Johann Christoph Friedrich Gutsmuths, considered to be the great grandfather of gymnastics,
published the first gymnastics textbook.

1811: The first gymnasium was opened by Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, the father of gymnastics.

1881: The Bureau of the European Gymnastics Federation, which would later become the International
Gymnastics Federation (FIG) was formed.

1896: The first summer Olympics was held in Athens and gymnastics events were a part of the
competition.

1928: Women were allowed to compete artistic gymnastics at the 1928 Summer Olympics held in
Amsterdam.

1963: United States Gymnastics Federation, now known as USA Gymnastics, was formed.

1976: Nadia Comaneci received the first perfect score at the 1976 Olympics.

1984: Rhythmic gymnastics was added to the Olympics. Also Mary Lou Retton became the first American
woman to win the Olympic all-around title.

1996: The Magnificent Seven, the 1996 US Olympic women’s gymnastics team, win the US’s first gold
medal in the women’s team competition. The seven members were Shannon Miller, Dominique
Moceanu, Dominique Dawes, Kerri Strug, Amy Chow, Amanda Borden and Jaycie Phelps.

1997: FIG raised the age requirement for gymnasts to compete at senior-level gymnastics events from
15 to 16.

1999: Trampoline and Tumbling joined USA Gymnastics.

2000: Trampoline made its Olympic debut at the 2000 Olympics.

2001: Due to safety concerns, the Vault table replaced the vault horse (basically a pommel horse with no
handles) in gymnastics competition.

2002: United States Sports Acrobatics (USSA) merged with USA Gymnastics making Acro the fifth
gymnastics discipline.

2004: Carly Patterson becomes the first American woman to win the Olympic all-around title in a non-
boycotted Olympics.

2006: FIG introduced a new scoring system for women’s artistic gymnastics. Now the maximum score is
no longer a 10.0. The new scoring system has two separate scores added together — a difficulty score,
and an execution score. This scoring system is used at the Elite level in the US and in international
competitions.
2012: The Fierce Five win the US’s second ever gold medal in the women’s team competition. The five
members of the team were Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, Kyla Ross and Jordyn
Weiber. Gabby Douglas became the first African American in Olympic history to win the Individual All
Around title as well as the first American to win both the Individual All Around and Team gold in the
same Olympics.

2013: The gymnastics levels changed from 6 compulsory levels and 4 optional levels, to 5 compulsory
levels and 5 optional levels. Also in 2013, the Xcel program becomes a national program. The Xcel
program is a great addition to the traditional Junior Olympic program due to its affordable competition
experience and ability to retain athletes.

2016: The Final Five win the gold medal in the women’s team competition to defend their title and
Simone Biles wins the All Around and was the only American to qualify for all 4 event finals.

2019: Simone Biles makes history again as she wins the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany and
becomes the first female gymnast to win 21 medals in total (beating out Svetlana Khorkina who was the
previous record holder with 20 World medals). Biles also performs a triple-double on floor exercise and
a double-double tuck dismount on beam, becoming the first gymnast to compete and land those skills.

2020: The International Olympic Committee makes the decision to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in
response to the coronavirus pandemic that affected the entire world.