All About Olympic Gymnastics - "to exercise naked."

The floor exercise is the most fundamental gymnastics event because it emphasizes acrobatics, power and grace.

In men's and women's competitions, gymnasts use as much of the allotted floor space as possible, dazzling spectators with high-speed tumbling runs, handsprings, flips and other manoeuvres.

In the men's event, each competitor's routine lasts a maximum of 70 seconds and usually features three to five tumbling passes. The routine includes a strength or static balance element. Competitors can use moves adopted from the pommel horse and other apparatus.

In the women's event, the emphasis is more on artistry than strength. Routines, which last between 70 and 90 seconds, combine tumbling and acrobatic elements with dance moves. Each routine must include two acrobatic series, one of which includes at least two saltos, one acrobatics series featuring at least three elements, and a gymnastic series with at least three elements.

Unlike the men's event, the women's event includes musical accompaniment. Competitors are expected to introduce themes. For this reason, most female gymnasts take dance classes.

The all-around competition is the biggest event in gymnastics, with athletes competing on every apparatus. There is a men's and a women's all-around event.

Each event includes the top 24 athletes from the qualification round, with a maximum of two athletes per country. Each competitor performs one routine on each apparatus, and scores from all six events are added to determine the winners.

In this event, the gymnast performs a routine on two flexible parallel bars, balancing, swinging and flying through the air. The gymnast is not expected to travel along the bars, but is expected to work above and below them.

He is required to perform elements while supporting his body with both arms and also while in an extended hanging position.

The pommel horse doesn't feature dramatic dismounts or double saltos, and is the least acrobatic of the men's events. A routine on this apparatus isn't glamorous, but it is gruelling.

In a pommel horse routine, the gymnast moves back and forth across the horse - a padded, wood-and- steel apparatus with a pair of handles (or pommels) attached - using continuous swinging and circular motions with his torso and legs, using only his hands for support.

Buy at AllPosters.com

Webmasters Make $$$