Unlike what most peple think, when a gymnast performs a routine, the judges don't start with a 10.0 and then deduct points. The base score for each event is 9.40. That will be given for doing all required elements perfectly. In order for a gymnast to receive better than a 9.40, they must perform difficult skills. They can't get any higher than a 10.0 though. Before the '96 Olympics gymnasts were required to perform compulsory exercises, in which each gymnast competing performed the same routine. The purpose of this was to see how techincally strong the athlete was. (After the '96 Olympics, the compulsory exercises were done away with.) Gymnast choose their own optional exercise. In the vault only, the gymnast gets two tries at the optional exercise, with the higher score counting.
By keeping track of the gymnasts scores, you can follow where she is in the ranking and tell whether she has a shot at the gold medal.
The vaulting horse is four feet high, five feet long, and eleven inches wide. In the women's vault, the horse is perpendicular to the runway. The runway is three feet wide and eighty-two feet long.
Things to look for are: percision, height, strength, and distance.
Deductions: Fractions will be deducted for sloppy form, unpointed toes, back too arched or not arched enough, as well as for larger errors, such as a faulty mount or a bad landing. Judges like landings to be clean and percise, without any little hops or steps.
The bars are three feet apart. The higher bar is eight feet off the ground, the bottom bar is about five feet from the ground. The height of the bars can be slightly adjusted to fit the gymnast.
The uneven bars are the perfect showcase for a gymnast's concentration, coordination, and courage. The routine's usually start from the low bar and move to the high bar. The gymnast must perform at least two release moves, completely letting go of both bars.
Things to look for: good form, pointed toes, crisp movements, difficult elements.
Bad Signs: falling off the bar, incomplete or faulty moves, sloppy landings.
The beam is four inches wide, sixteen feet wide, and four feet from the floor.
The gymnast on the beam used acrobatic, gymnastics, and dance elements to create and exciting and harmonious routine. A performance should include several instances of at least two skills, such as a cartwheel into a back handspring, performed in a series. A routine must last between seventy and ninety seconds.
Things to look for: changes in rhythm, a graceful blendings of acrobatic and dance movements, and a strong dismount.
Bad Signs: falling off the beam, wobbling, balance checks, not completing all required elements.
The floor exercise is performed on a forty by forty foot padded mat that is mounted on two inch springs, giving gymnasts the ability to soar on their tumbling runs.
In the floor exercise, the gymnast combines the athleticism of acrobatic tumbling with the theatricality of dance and music. The gymnast must perform at least four passes from corner to corner, covering all areas of the carpet. Look for all the passes to include moves of great height, distance, and amplitude. The routine must last between seventy and ninety seconds.
Things to look for: difficulty of skills, imaginative use of the floor space, precise movements, and creative dance moves.
Bad Signs: Poor form, stepping off the mat, falling, faulty or incomplete moves.
The twelve top-ranked national teams in the world compete in the Olympics. Each national team has seven gymnasts. In the team competition, six gymnasts perform on all four apparatus. The team that earns the most points wins. After everyone has completed the team competition, the thirty-six gymnasts who earned the highest overall scores, with a limit of three gymnasts per country, get to compete for the idividual all-around title. Finally, the eight highest scoring gymnasts on each apparatus, with a limit of two per country, get to compete in the individual competition for that apparatus.
Each of the thirty-six overall highest scoring gymnasts from the team all-around, with a limit of three per country, compete on all four apparatus for the all-around title. Whoever has the most points at the end wins.
The eight highest scoring gymnasts from the team competition in each event, with a limit of two per country, compete in the individual competition for that event. The gymnast with the highest score wins.
back
