Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos

gymnastics: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last updated

News •

AI-assisted gymnastics judging in talks for use at 2028 L.A. Olympics, official says - The Athletic • Oct. 23, 2026, 3:00 AM ET (New York Times)
End of an era for disabled gymnastics competition • Oct. 19, 2026, 9:38 AM ET (BBC)

Photos and Videos

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.
Minoan Bull-Leaping Fresco from Knossos depicts three figures interacting with a leaping bull on a blue background, bordered by colorful geometric patterns.
Illustration of the Turnplatz in Hasenheide, Berlin, showing an outdoor gymnasium with various gymnastics apparatus among trees and people exercising, surrounded by a wooden fence.
parallel bars
German Turners with a pommel horse
American gymnastics class
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.
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.
Katō Sawao
Women's artistic gymnastics events
Watch: A men's gymnastics vault exercise
Watch: A women's gymnastics vault exercise
See All Videos and Images →

Related Topics and References

Topics

Key People

default image
Bela Karolyi
Romanian gymnastics coach
The most-decorated American gymnast
Simone Biles
American gymnast
Suni Lee on the balance beam at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Suni Lee
American gymnast
Kōhei Uchimura at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
Kōhei Uchimura
Japanese gymnast
Shilese Jones
Shilese Jones
American gymnast
Bart Conner
Bart Conner
American gymnast
Gymnast Shannon Miller
Shannon Miller
American gymnast
Gymnast Laurie Hernandez of the United States smiles and holds up her silver medal on the podium at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, wearing a Team USA jacket.
Laurie Hernandez
American gymnast
Nastia Liukin, wearing a red leotard, leaps with arms and legs extended during the floor exercise at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Nastia Liukin
American gymnast
Gabby Douglas
Gabby Douglas
American gymnast
default image
Leonid Yakovlevich Arkayev
Russian coach
Olympic gymnast Věra Čáslavská
Věra Čáslavská
Czech gymnast
Belarusian gymnast Vitaly Scherbo
Vitaly Scherbo
Belarusian athlete
Nadia Comăneci
Nadia Comăneci
Romanian gymnast
“Father of gymnastics”
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn
German educator
Mary Lou Retton smiles and poses in a red, white, and blue leotard with stars and stripes, during a gymnastics competition.
Mary Lou Retton
American gymnast
Gymnastics champion Viktor Chukarin
Viktor Chukarin
Soviet athlete
Soviet gymnast Boris Anfiyanovich Shakhlin
Boris Anfiyanovich Shakhlin
Soviet athlete
Nikolai Andrianov
Nikolai Andrianov
Soviet gymnast
default image
Li Ning
Chinese gymnast and entrepreneur

Related Quizzes

Volleyball match
Sports Fun Facts Quiz
Usain Bolt of Jamaica reacts after breaking the world record with a time of 19.30 to win the gold medal as Churandy Martina (left) of Netherlands Antilles and Brian Dzingai of Zimbabwe come in after him in the Men's 200m Final at the National Stadium during Day 12 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 20, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Summer Olympics, track and field, athletics)
I Am the Greatest (Athlete)
Assorted sports balls including a basketball, football, soccer ball, tennis ball, baseball and others.
American Sports Nicknames
Former U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program bobsledder Steven Holcomb, front, is greeted at the finish line after teaming with Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler and Curtis Tomasevicz to win the first Olympic bobsleigh gold medal in 62 years for Team USA ,(cont)
The Olympic Games