Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a physical discipline that involves performing sequences of maneuvers like handsprings, handstands, split jumps, aerials.
And cartwheels that call on physical strength, flexibility, balance, endurance, grace, and kinesthetic awareness.
Gymnastics
Gymnastics developed from the Greeks’ beauty regimens and physical training techniques, which included horseback riding and circus performance techniques.
It quickly developed into an Olympic sport that has been held every year since its introduction to the United States in 1830.
Gymnastics competitions put a gymnast’s strength, rhythm, balance, flexibility, and agility to the test and need a high degree of self-control.
History
The origins of gymnastics can be traced to the Greek civilization thousands of years ago. The word gymnastics is derived from the Greek word “gymnos,” which means “naked.” Physical well-being was highly valued by the Ancient Greeks, who built gymnasia—courts for running, jumping, and wrestling—in every Greek city.
Greek gymnastics gave way to military training as the Roman Empire grew. For instance, the wooden horse was invented by the Romans in antiquity. Gymnastics and other sports suffered when the Olympic Games, which had by then grown corrupt, were abolished in 393 C.E. by Emperor Theodosius.
Later, gymnastics suffered from the negative influence of Christianity, which sprang from the medieval notion that the human body is base. Gymnastics was almost completely forgotten for centuries.
The “father of gymnastics” is Friedrich Ludwig Jahn.
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, the “father of gymnastics”
However, two pioneering physical educators—Johan Friedrich Gutsmuth (1759–1839) and Friedrich Ludwig Jahn (1778–1852), who is regarded as the father of modern gymnastics—created exercises for boys and young men on apparatus they designed in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, which eventually led to the development of what is now known as modern gymnastics.
Jahn created the first versions of the horizontal bar, the vaulting horse, and the parallel bars (which were made from a horizontal ladder without rungs).
Men’s gymnastics competition gained enough traction by the end of the nineteenth century to be added to the inaugural “modern” Olympic Games in 1896.
But from that point on, until the early 1950s, a shifting range of competitors participated in both national and international activities that fall within the gymnastics category but are unfamiliar to audiences today include horizontal ladders, high jumping, running, rope climbing, synchronized team floor calisthenics, and more.
Women organized and competed in gymnastics competitions in the 1920s, and in 1928, the first women’s Olympic tournament took place in Amsterdam. It was rudimentary, consisting solely of synchronized calisthenics.
By the time of the 1954 Olympics, men’s and women’s events and equipment had been standardized in a contemporary format, and uniform grading schemes, with a point system ranging from 1 to 10, had been decided upon.
During this period, Soviet gymnasts stunned the world with extremely disciplined and challenging routines, creating a legacy that still serves as an inspiration today. The advent of television as a new media helped promote and usher in a contemporary era of gymnasium.
Nowadays, there is a lot of interest in gymnastics throughout the world for both men and women, and there are talented gymnasts on every continent.
The first-ever perfect score was achieved by Nadia Comaneci in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada. Bela Karolyi, a well-known Romanian, served as her coach.
Sports Illustrated reports that Comaneci earned two perfect tens on the balancing beam, one on the uneven bars, and four on the floor exercise.
Regretfully, despite Nadia’s flawless scores, the Romanians were defeated by the Soviets for the gold medal.
As “a fourteen-year-old, ponytailed little girl” who demonstrated to the world that perfection was possible, Nadia will always be remembered.
A new point system was implemented in 2006. Rather than being ranked from 1 to 10, the workout routine’s difficulty rating determines the gymnast’s starting value.
Additionally, the deductions increased: the penalty for a fall was 0.5 before to the development of the new point system, and it is currently 0.8.
The goal of the new point system was to make it less likely for gymnasts to receive a perfect score.
Cautions
Because of the stress on competitors’ joints, bones, and muscles as well as the height of the equipment and the pace of the exercises, gymnastics is regarded as a risky sport. Several competitors have experienced horrific incidents related to gymnastics that have left them paralyzed and with long-lasting injuries. For example, in 1998, Sang Lan, a Chinese artistic gymnast of the highest caliber, suffered a paralysis from a fall on the vault during the Goodwill Games.
Numerous international medical studies have focused on artistic gymnastics injuries, and the findings suggest that over 50% of elite-level competitors may experience chronic injuries over time.
High school gymnasts in the US have injury rates as high as 56%, while club gymnasts have injury rates of around 23%. On the other hand, the participation rates in leisure-related activity Gymnastics at lower levels is inferior to those of athletes at higher levels.
Injury incidence can also be reduced with proper conditioning, safe training areas with mats, and experienced coaching.