All About Olympic Rhythmic Gymnastics - Clubs Ribbon Stick Ball Hoop = Playground?

In the individual competition at the Beijing Games, athletes use four of the sport's five apparatus. (The sport's international governing body will determine which apparatus will be excluded.) Each routine lasts between 75 and 90 seconds.

In the group event, five gymnasts perform together using the same apparatus, or with a combination of two apparatus. The international governing body determines which apparatus can be used. Each routine lasts between two minutes, 15 seconds and two minutes, 30 seconds.

Panels of judges rate the performances in every competition. The first panel assesses composition (technical and artistic value) and the second looks at execution. That includes apparatus technique, body movements and music among other elements.

Some eight centuries later, French choreographer Jean Georges Noverre, French philosopher Francois Delsarte and renowned American dancer Isadora Duncan advocated the expression of art through movement.

Their teachings led to the development of rhythmic gymnastics in the early 20th century. The fledgling sport was particularly popular in eastern Europe, and became a competitive sport in the Soviet Union in the 1940s.

Events incorporating hand apparatus were included in the women's gymnastics program at the Olympics from 1928 to 1956. But the sport we now know as rhythmic gymnastics didn't come to the attention of the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) until the 1960s, when enthusiasts called it "modern gymnastics."

The FIG recognized it as an independent sport in 1962, and the first world championships were held in Hungary two years later.

The individual all-around competition was introduced at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, with Canadian Lori Fung winning the gold in a field made sparse by the Eastern Bloc's Olympic boycott. The team event was added 12 years later.

Russia has dominated the sport in recent years. A Russian athlete won the individual all-around event at the 2000 Sydney Games, where Russians won the team competition. A similar scenario unfolded at the Athens Games. Russia won the team competition again, and Russian star Alina Kabaeva won the all-around event.

Asymmetric movements: Movements of various shape and direction performed with each apparatus

Axis throw: A throw where the hoop spins around its horizontal axis

Boomerang throw: A move in which the gymnast throws the stick and then pulls the ribbon, bringing the cane back to her

Double stag: A position or leap in which the athlete keeps her back straight while splitting her legs with both knees bent

Formation: An arrangement of athletes in a group routine. At least six different formations are required

Retro roll: The hoop is rolled and returns to the gymnast

Snake: When the ribbon's rippling movement resembles a slithering snake

Spiral: The ribbon's small loops

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