Gymnastics is thought to have begun in ancient Greece about 2500 years ago where

it was used in training to keep fit for sporting activities. In the Greek city of Athens,
gymnastic tournaments were held, including tumbling, rope climbing, and other similar
activities.
The gymnasium was the hub of cultural activity. Men met there not only to practice sport, but
to understand art, music and philosophy. The Greeks believed 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 Olympic Games. When the
Roman’s conquered Greece, they found that gymnastics was very valuable in their military training.
But after the fall of the Roman Empire, gymnastics vanished for hundreds of years.

The early Olympic Games featured some gymnastic disciplines which could hardly
be called “artistic”, however. Rope climbing, tumbling and club swinging were some of the
events that failed to survive the refining process. At the World Championships, 1st held in
Antwerp in 1903, field events such as the pole vault, broad jump and shot-put even featured
every now and then until 1954. Swimming appeared once, at the 1922 championships.

HISTO
RY OFThe Olympic program began to settle in 1924, with men competing for individual medals

GYMN
and in team events on each apparatus. 4 years later, women began competing in Olympic
gymnastics at Amsterdam. By 1952, the Soviet Union had become the leading country in Olympic
gymnastics, its profile rising slowly after a group of social reformers – including playwright Anton

ASTIC
Chekhov – formed the Russian Gymnastic Federation in 1883.

FAMOUS
S
GYMNAST
S IN THE
PHILIPPIN First time ever, the Philippine national anthem was
played in the world gymnastics stage after Filipino teen
ES gymnast Carlos Edriel Yulo made a historic mark of
winning the Philippines’ first ever world championship
gold in gymnastics.

The 19-year-old trailblazer bagged a gold medal in

the men’s floor exercise of the 2019 World Artistic
Gymnastic Championships late Saturday, 12 October, in
CARLOS EDRIEL YULO Stuttgart, Germany just a few days after claiming his
ticket to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Carlos was the second
DANIELA DELA PISA Filipino to secure a berth in the said Olympics after pole-
vaulter EJ Obiena.
 At just 15 years old, the ovarian cancer survivor
struck gold at the hoop category of rhythmic gymnastics at
the 2019 Southeast Asian Games on Saturday, December
7 at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

Dela Pisa scored 17.750 in her routine, well above

Malaysia’s Amzan Izzah (16.500) and Kwan Amy Dict
Weg (15.900) who nabbed silver and bronze, respectively.

The Palarong Pambansa product also added two

bronzes to her impressive haul, both coming from the ball
and clubs category of the event.