Aaron's Gymnastics Highlights
Gymnastics is a competitive sport that tests an athlete's strength, rhythm, balance, flexibility, mind and agility. There are three major forms of competitive gymnastics: artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, and the recent addition of trampoline. Artistic gymnastics and trampoline have men's and women's competitions. Rhythmic gymnastics is only for women.
History
The sport of Gymnastics dates has a history long before the Ancient Olympic Games. In fact, the Chinese art "Wushu" involves gymnastic exercises, and dates back 2000 years before the Ancient Olympic Games.
When Gymnastics first appeared on the Olympic program in 1896 it was only for men, and included events such as horizontal bar, parallel bars, pommel horse, rings, and vault. At the Sydney 2000 Games a new discipline of Trampolining was added to the program.
Artistic
Artistic gymnastics is the traditional type of gymnastics. For example, the women's events are vault, uneven bars, balance, and floor. The men's events are vault, floor pommel horse, rings, parallel bars, and horizontal bar. The bars, rings, vault and other objects are called apparatus.
Rhythmic
Rhythmic gymnastics as Olympic events are relatively new. This type of gymnastics may be performed to music using the following apparatus: ball, club, rope and ribbon.
Trampoline
This recent addition to the Olympics involves gravity-defying leaps and bounces on a stretched canvas. Competitors perform various feats in the air displaying their strength and athletic skill.
