Do a research about the following topics:

1. Definition of Gymnastics.

- Gymnastics is considered to be one of the world’s biggest, most exciting, dynamic, and
daring sports. It involves physical exercises that require balance, strength, flexibility,
agility, coordination, dedication, and endurance. Gymnasts perform systematic exercises
and acrobatic skills such as jumps, flips, and turns often with the use of different equipment
like still rings, balance beams, uneven bars, and other apparatus as it is an essential piece in
most gymnastics events.

Source: https://www.britannica.com/sports/gymnastics
https://www.rookieroad.com/gymnastics/what-is/

2. History of Gymnastics.
- The sport has its origins in ancient Greece, where young men underwent intense physical
and mental training for warfare. The word stems from the Greek word gymnos, or
“naked,”—appropriate, since the youths trained in the nude, performing floor exercises,
lifting weights, and racing one another. (How ancient Greeks mixed naked sports with
pagan partying.)

For the Greeks, exercise and learning went hand in hand. According to sports historian R.
Scott Kretchmar, the gyms where Greek youths trained served as “hubs for scholarship and
discovery”—community centers where young people were educated in the physical and
intellectual arts. Fourth-century-B.C. Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote that “the education
of the body must precede that of the mind.”

But gymnastics, as we know it today, comes from another hotbed of intellectualism and
intense debate: 18th- and 19th-century Europe. There, as in ancient Greece, physical fitness
was considered an integral part of citizenship and patriotism. The era’s popular gymnastic
societies combined all three.

Former Prussian soldier Friedrich Ludwig Jahn—who would later become known as the
“father of gymnastics”—embraced Enlightenment-era concepts of national pride and
education. After Prussia was invaded by France, Jahn saw the Germans’ defeat as a national
humiliation. To uplift his countrymen and unite its youth, he turned to physical fitness. Jahn
created a gymnastics system called Turnen and invented new equipment for his pupils,
including the parallel and high bars, the balance beam, and the horse.

Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/how-gymnastics-became-a-
deeply-beloved-olympic-sport

3. Types of Gymnastics Events.

- The following are the three types of gymnastics:

1. Artistic Gymnastics – This is the most popular and widely-practiced form of gymnastics.
It is divided into women’s and men’s gymnastics. Women compete in four events: vault,
uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise, while men compete in six events: floor
exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars, and high bar.

2. Rhythmic Gymnastics - The performance of various gymnastics moves and dance

exercises to music, with or without various gymnastic apparatus. Only women compete in
the sport, which combines elements of ballet and gymnastics in the performance of five
separate routines with the use of one of the five apparatuses: ball, ribbon, hoop, clubs, and
rope.

3. Aerobic Gymnastics – This is also known as sport aerobics. It involves the performance of
routines by individuals, pairs, trios, or groups of up to six people. Routines typically lasting
60 to 90 seconds are performed on floors, without the use of other apparatus.

On the other hand, in Olympic gymnastics, there are 14 medal events: The men’s team
event, women’s team event, men’s all-around, women’s all-around, and 10 event finals (six
for men, four for women).

Women compete on four apparatus:

1) Vault

2) Uneven Bars

3) Balance Beam

4) Floor Exercise

Men compete on six apparatus:

1) Floor Exercise

2) Pommel Horse

3) Rings

4) Vault

5) Parallel Bars

6) High Bar
Source: https://www.myactivesg.com/sports/gymnastics/how-to-play/gymnastics-for-
beginners/introduction-to-gymnastics-types-of-gymnastics
https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/gymnastics-101-competition-format