balance beam: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Photos

Suni Lee of Team United States performs a split leap on the balance beam during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, wearing a navy leotard with red and silver accents.

Performing on the balance beam.

Simone Biles performs a mid-air flip above the balance beam during the women's gymnastics team final at the 2016 Rio Olympics, with a crowd in the background.

Simone Biles of the United States performs a split leap on the balance beam during women's team all-around gymnastics at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, with a crowd in the background.

Simone Biles of Team United States in a blue leotard performs a move on the uneven bars, gripping the bar with one hand and looking focused during competition.

Simone Biles of Team United States performs a flip above the balance beam during the Women's Balance Beam Final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Nadia Comaneci of Romania, in a white leotard with colored stripes, balances gracefully on the balance beam during her gymnastics routine at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

See All Images →

Topics

artistic gymnastics gymnastics vaulting rings pommel horse trampoline floor exercise horizontal bar tumbling parallel bars uneven parallel bars rhythmic gymnastics

Key People

The most-decorated American gymnast

Simone Biles

American gymnast

Suni Lee on the balance beam at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Suni Lee

American gymnast

Shilese Jones

Shilese Jones

American gymnast

Olympic gymnast Věra Čáslavská

Věra Čáslavská

Czech gymnast

Nadia Comăneci

Nadia Comăneci

Romanian gymnast

“Father of gymnastics”

Friedrich Ludwig Jahn

German educator

Olga Korbut at the Munich 1972 Olympic Games

Olga Korbut

Soviet gymnast

Assorted sports balls including a basketball, football, soccer ball, tennis ball, baseball and others.

American Sports Nicknames