Artistic Gymnastics Apparatus

The discipline of artistic gymnastics is divided into both men’s and women’s competitive events. The events use several different types of artistic gymnastics apparatus.

The men will compete in still rings, pommel horse, high bar, vault, parallel bars and floor exercise. And the women will compete in the vault, floor exercise, uneven bars and the balance beam. At one point in time, in other countries, women were allowed to compete in men’s events that included the high bar, rings and the parallel bars. An example of a country that allowed women to compete in men’s events was the USSR, particularly in the 1950s.

Artistic gymnastics routines usually last from thirty to ninety seconds. The routines are very short but very demanding on the body and mind of the gymnast. These types of routines are designed to push gymnasts to their ultimate levels. The emphasis is placed on awareness, endurance, flexibility and strength.

The vault is a piece of artistic gymnastics apparatus that requires the gymnast to sprint down a runway, jumps firmly onto a springboard and then springs onto and over the vault. More advanced gymnasts are able to block off from the vault in a handstand position. The gymnast, when dismounting, may perform a series of twists or saltos.

The balance beam that women compete on is only four inches wide. A gymnast performs a routine on the beam that consists of a series of acrobatic skills, leaps, dance moves and turns. To perform well in this event, a gymnast must be flexible and have great balance. On the uneven bars gymnasts perform a series of transitional moves, release moves, swinging and circling. The dismount from the uneven bars consists of either turns or saltos or a flip.

The pommel horse is considered to be “the ultimate balancing act” for male gymnasts. The gymnast must perform a series of circular movements around and over the horse with their hands touching the pommel horse. This is a very difficult event. The still rings are considered to be the most demanding event in artistic gymnastics. To perform a routine on the rings, a gymnast must have amazing strength, power and balance. On the high bar a gymnast performs a routine that consists of a series of twists, changes of direction and release skills.

Artistic gymnastics is the most popular sport of the Summer Olympic Games because of the different artistic gymnastics apparatus used in the competitions.