Evolution of Gymnastics

By Sport202KEJ
  • 455 BCE

    Gymnastics is Developed in Greece

    The sport of gymnastics was first developed in Ancient Greece. The sport was used to train Greece’s military troops. Following the invasion of Rome, Romans made gymnastic part of their culture as well. Unfortunately, the popularity of gymnastic declined as time went on.
  • Period: 455 BCE to

    Growth of Gymnastics Over Time

  • Gymnastics Starts to Grow

    Gymnastics was introduced to Germany and then to Sweden shortly after.
    In Germany, Friedrich Ludwig Jahn developed the sidebar, the horizontal bar, the parallel bars, the balance beam, and jumping events.These apparatuses were created for only the exercise of boys and young men.

  • More Growth & Inclusion of Women

    Jahn opened a club out of Berlin which inspired the rest of Europe to also open clubs. The Swedish version of gymnastics focused more on rhythmic movement and grace. Swedish gymnastics welcomed women but was primary practiced by men.

  • US Gets Involved

    Gymnastics is introduced to the United States by European immigrants. Clubs started to form by Turnverein and Sokol groups. Turnverein is an association of German gymnastics founded by Friedrich Ludwig Jahn. Sokol is an association of all-age gymnastics founded in the Czech Republic.

  • Introduced to competitions/ the Olympics

    International Gymnastics Federation was created to supervise international competition. Gymnastics was then included in the first modern Olympic Games. The Olympic Games included events such as horizontal bar, parallel bar, vault, rings, rope climbing and pommel horse. The competition was made up of only men, women were not invited to participate in the games. Germany took home almost every medal awarded.

  • Olympics in Paris

    The Olympic games in Paris first presented the basis of modern day gymnastics competitions. Men competed in individual events for titles as well as a team competition.

  • Women's First Olympic Gymnastics Event

    Women’s first Olympic gymnastics event was held. At this time, women did not compete in individual events like men did, they could only participate in a team competition. This competition included a synchronized team performance and a team exercise using “portable apparatuses” (rings, bows etc.). They were scored on difficulty, beauty, and execution. Netherlands won gold.

  • Women's Events Grow

    Women were able to compete in the individual events: vault, uneven bar, beam, and floor.

  • U.S. Gymnastics Federation Established

    The national governing body for gymnastics in the United States was formed, later becoming USA Gymnastics. They are responsible for setting rules and regulations as well as selecting and training the national team.

  • TV Coverage Leads to Popularity Growth/ First Ever Perfect Score Awarded

    Popularity of gymnastics grew exponentially with tv coverage of the 1972 and 1976 Olympics. Also, a female Romanian gymnast (Nadia Comaneci) achieved the first perfect score at the 1976 Olympics. There also was huge surge of very young girls competing in gymnastics competitions at this time, which led to future age restrictions.

  • First Gold Medal for US

    USA’s women’s team won the first gold medal for the U.S. in the team competition, which had been previously dominated by the Russians. During this performance, one of the gymnasts on team USA (Kerri Strug) injured her ankle on her first vault, but came back to stick the landing on the second vault to clinch gold for team USA. One of the most famous moments of the 1996 olympics was one of Strug’s teammates carrying her to the podium to receive the medal. Krug became a national hero.

  • Age Requirement Interferes with China's 3rd Place Finish at 2000 Olympics

    US team takes bronze medal at 2000 Olympics due to China being stripped of their 3rd place win for lying about one of their gymnasts’ age. Dong Fangxiao, the gymnast, lied and said she was 17 when she was actually 14. The minimum age to compete in the Olympics is 16 years old.

  • US Olympic Dominance begins

    Carly Patterson wins first ever all-around gold medal. Since 2004, the US has won every all-around gold medal at the Olympics

  • The "Fab Five"

    In 2012 the women’s gymnastics team won the second ever gold medal in the team competition for the United States. The five members of the gymnastics team were Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, Kyla Ross and Jordyn Wieber.

  • Larry Nassar Sexual Abuse Scandal

    Claims against Larry Nassar, the USA national medical coordinator, go public when Rachael Denhollander files a criminal complaint saying he first abused her when she was 15 years old.

  • The List Grows

    18 women now have filed complaints against Nassar, USA gymnastics, MSU and Twistars Gymnastics Club for Nassar’s sexual assault acts over the past 20 years and the institutions for failing to prevent his actions.

  • Justice is served

    Nassar is sentenced to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing athletes in his care.