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Men's Artistic Gymnastics

Men's Artistic Gymnastics - an Olympic discipline performed on six gymnastics apparatus: on the floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar. Eight sets of medals are played at the Olympic Games (individual all-around and team standings, as well as individual apparatus finals).

Men's Artistic Gymnastics in the world

German teachers Fit (1763-1836) and F. Gutsmuths (1759-1839) are the founders of practical and theoretical principles in development of gymnastics. They have developed and prepared a methodology of gymnastic movements with apparatus. In 1881, International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has been established. Gymnastics took its own place among other sports disciplines in the program of the first Olympic Games held in Athens in 1896. The first World Championship in artistic gymnastics was organized in 1903 on initiative of a Belgian Kuperus who founded the FIG. From 1903 to 1913, the World Championships were being held once in two years. Since 1922, the World Championships had been organized once in four years. .

At the FIG congress in 1977, it was decided to hold World Championships once in two years again. At present, the World Championships are being held every year except the year when the Olympic Games take place

Men's Artistic Gymnastics in Azerbaijan

Artistic gymnastics began its development in Azerbaijan in the 30th of the last century. The Republic’s first Championship was held in Baku in 1939. The most famous Azerbaijani gymnast Valery Belenky was invited to the USSR team at the age of 14. Being the all-around Azerbaijan Champion and holder of the country's Cup, Belenky won a title of the World Champion within the USSR national team in 1989. He became the champion on parallel bars, rings, as well as the silver medalist on floor exercises and bronze medalist on vault within the national team at the Goodwill Games in Seattle in 1990. Having won the World Cup within the CIS national team in 1991, V. Belenky became the Olympic Champion at the XXV Games in Barcelona in 1992 and won the bronze medal in an individual competition. In 1995, he took the bronze at the European Championships and won the Champion's title on pommel horse. Belenky coached another Azerbaijani gymnast Shakir Shikhaliyev who in represented Azerbaijan at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The following year, two talented gymnast - Oleg Stepko and Petro Pakhnyuk joined national team. Stepko won his first victory at the 2014World Cup in Croatia, winning a bronze medal for the exercise on the parallel bars. Valeriy Belenki Stepko showed the best result on the same apparatus at the 2015 World Cup in Qatar

Currently, a new generation of artistic gymnasts is growing in Azerbaijan and new gymnastics sections opened in Baku. Men's Artistic Gymnastics was included in the program of the European Games. Gymnasts play eight sets of medals - for the team standings, in individual all-around, and apparatus finals

Apparatuses
Floor exercises
Floor exercises
Are performed on a special gymnastics floor with a dimension of 12x12m. There is a “security border” that crosses around the floor and which width is of one meter. Floor exercises are a combination of individual elements (flip-flops, flips, splits, handstands and so on.) During performance, an athlete should use the entire area of the floor. Difficulty of the program and its individual elements are evaluated, as well as purity and self-fulfillment.
Pommel Horse
Pommel Horse
Is a special apparatus with handles that allow to perform circular swings with legs. The pommel horse is fixed at a height of 1.05 m. The exercise on a pommel horse is characterized by circular swings and turns, as well as handstands. Entire area of the apparatus should be used.
Still rings
Still rings
A mobile apparatus in the form of two wooden rings mounted on special cables at a height of 2.55 m. Exercises on the rings (strength, swing and hold parts) show not only flexibility, but also physical strength of an athlete. Static elements of these exercises are also difficult to perform. Taking initial position on the rings, the athlete can take the help of a coach or assistant.
Exercises on a vault
Exercises on a vault
Is performed with a running start using the additional support (hence is the name of the exercise). The length of the apparatus is 1.6 m, while width is 0.35 m. To perform a vault, the gymnast runs down a runway (the run), which is usually padded or carpeted. They hurdle onto a springboard and spring onto the vault with their hands (the preflight or first flight, and block).The off-flight may be as simple as leaping over the apparatus or as complicated as executing several twists and turns in the air. The gymnast then lands on the mat on the other side of the apparatus.
The parallel bars
The parallel bars
A routine performed on the parallel bars must include various elements that depend on the gymnast's competitive level. A typical performance will involve swinging skills in a support position (on the hands), a hanging position, and an upper arm position (resting on the inner bicep). Each routine ends with a dismount from either the ends of the bars or the side of the apparatus.
A horizontal bar
A horizontal bar
Routine, which is a sequence of several bar skills, usually includes giants with various grips (overgrip, undergrip, dorsal grip, mixed grip), in-bar work, turns, release and regrasp skills, and a dismount. The horizontal bar is often considered one of the most exciting gymnastics events due to the power exhibited by gymnasts during giant swings and spectacular aerial releases and dismounts that often include multiple flips or twists and, in some cases, airborne travel over the bar. The mechanical dimensions of the horizontal bar apparatus are specified as 278 cm (height), 240 cm (length) and 2.8 cm (diameter of the bar).
Interesting facts
  • The first Olympic Games featured men’s competitions in such categories as horizontal bar, pommel horse, parallel bars, vault and rope climbing. Later apparatus began to change, and technology to be complicated.
  • Unlike the modern gymnastics in ancient time, athletes performed not only on apparatus, but were able to swim, run, ride a horse and to fight.
  • The Frenchman gymnast Gustave Sandra was the very first absolute Champion of the 1900 Olympic Games