HISTORY OF GYMNASTICS

The history of gymnastics is a long and interesting one. As an

introduction here is a brief look at just how a discipline practiced
by naked Greek men became the graceful, dazzling – and fully
clothed – sport it is today.
Gymnastics in Ancient Times
The history of gymnastics actually dates all the way back to the
times of the Ancient Greeks. Back then though it was not so
much a sport as a conditioning regime for athletes involved in
other sports. And that in many ways makes sense as gymnastics
does involve physical skills – coordination, precise body control,
strength and grace – that certainly can benefit athletes in other
sporting disciplines, even today. The Ancients Greeks practiced
gymnastics a little differently than the gymnasts of today though,
as when they did get around to formalizing the sport a little they
called it gymnazein, literally, “to exercise naked”, and that is
exactly what they did. Once the Romans got hold of the idea –
they were of course absolute masters at taking something new or
interesting from another culture and making it their own – they
saw another purpose for gymnastics; a military training tool for
their famed mighty Legions. Once again this worked rather well
and other regimes began using gymnastics to train their forces as
well. In fact up until the early 20th century gymnastics formed a
part of the training of US and European armed forces training.
Gymnastics as a Formal Sport
As gymnastics fell out of favor as a military training tool it began
to regain popularity as an actual sport. The rise of the ‘new’ sport
of gymnastics began in Germany in the late 1700s. There one
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn of Germany opened a school that taught a
form of the art that made use of some of his personal inventions,
including three pieces of equipment the gymnasts of today are
very familiar with; the beam, the vault and the parallel bars. At
the same time, over in Sweden a teacher named Guts Muth was
developing a more graceful form of the sport. One which focused
on grace of movement and athletic flexibility rather than sheer
strength. Eventually the two ‘kinds’ of gymnastics began to merge
and gain popularity across Europe and then finally ‘arriving’ in the
US during the Civil War, as introduced by college professor Dr.
Dudley Allen Sargent.
Gymnastics as an Olympic Sport
When the first ‘modern’ Olympic Games were staged in 1896
gymnastics was on the agenda, but only for men. It was not until
1924 that women were even allowed to perform on an exhibition
basis and it was 1936 before it become a formal women’s event.
Initially, Olympic gymnastics competitions tended to be
dominated by athletes from the countries that had first taken the
sport seriously, mainly Germany and Eastern Europe. By the
1950s though formal training programs – often backed by
government funds – in Japan, the Soviet Union, the US and China
began producing both male and female athletes who were serious
and impressive contenders for both Olympic and world
competition glory.
The Rise of Gymnast as Superstars
Before the 1976 Olympics in Montreal there had been a number
of fantastic gymnasts who had been considered stars of the sport
but that particular staging of the Games gave rise to something
new; the international gymnastic superstar. On the female side
especially the gymnastic talent on display gripped the world with
Russians Nellie Kim and Olga Korbut dazzling audiences and of
course the 14 year old Romanian Nadia Comăneci, who became
the first gymnast to ever achieve a perfect ten in professional
gymnastic competition. After the Olympics all three become not
only national heroines in their homelands but also international
stars, their pictures adorning posters in young people’s bedrooms
all over the world. There have been a number of similarly ‘huge’
inspirational stars to capture the attention and excitement of the
young since, including Americans Bart Conner, Kurt Thomas,
Mary Lou Retton, the ladies of the 2012 US ‘Fierce Five’ and,
going into the 2016 a young woman who is being touted as one
of the best gymnasts ever, Simone Biles.