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First gymnastics textbook
Johann Christoph Friedrich Gutsmuths, considered to be the great grandfather of gymnastics, published the first gymnastics textbook. -
First Gymnasium
The first gymnasium was opened by Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, the father of gymnastics. -
FIG was formed
The Bureau of the European Gymnastics Federation, which would later become the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) was formed. -
First summer Olympics
The first summer Olympics was held in Athens and gymnastics events were a part of the competition. -
Women are allowed to compete
Women were allowed to compete artistic gymnastics at the 1928 Summer Olympics held in Amsterdam. -
USA Gymnastics was created
United States Gymnastics Federation, now known as USA Gymnastics, was formed. -
Perfect score
Nadia Comaneci received the first perfect score at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal Canada. -
Rhythmic Gymnastics added to Olympics.
Rhythmic gymnastics was added to the Olympics. Also Mary Lou Retton became the first American woman to win the Olympic all-around title. -
US first gold medal in women's competition
The Magnificent Seven, the 1996 US Olympic women’s gymnastics team, win the US’s first gold medal in the women’s team competition. The seven members were Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Dominique Dawes, Kerri Strug, Amy Chow, Amanda Borden and Jaycie Phelps. -
Age requirement change
FIG raised the age requirement for gymnasts to compete at senior-level gymnastics events from 15 to 16. -
Trampoline gets to the Olympics
Trampoline made its Olympic debut at the 2000 Olympics. -
Vault table replaced vault horse due to safety
Due to safety concerns, the Vault table replaced the vault horse (basically a pommel horse with no handles) in gymnastics competition. -
New Scoring System
FIG introduced a new scoring system for women’s artistic gymnastics. Now the maximum score is no longer a 10.0. The new scoring system has two separate scores added together — a difficulty score, and an execution score. This scoring system is used at the Elite level in the US and in international competitions. -
Simone Biles wins All Around and Final Five wins the gold medal
The US Team, The Final Five win the gold medal in the women’s team competition to defend their title and Simone Biles wins the All Around and was the only American to qualify for all 4 event finals. -
Simone Biles makes history again
Simone Biles makes history again as she wins the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany and becomes the first female gymnast to win 21 medals in total (beating out Svetlana Khorkina who was the previous record holder with 20 World medals). Biles also performs a triple-double on floor exercise and a double-double tuck dismount on beam, becoming the first gymnast to compete and land those skills.