Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport which includes athletic tasks requiring training in coordination, agility, strength and balance. Popularized in ancient Greece, gymnastics began as a form of training and slowly became an exhibition of strength and agility in both groups and individuals. There are multiple events which are meant to exhibit gymnastic ability, including routines such as a vault, uneven bars, balancing beams, or floor events which resemble a dance. Having never been absent from the Summer Olympic Games, gymnasts and their routines continue to be one of the most anticipated and watched events.
Gymnastics within the Olympics are held during the Summer Olympics in an indoor facility and are held every four years. The Winter and Summer Olympics are two years apart and the next Summer Olympics are in 2020 in Tokyo, Japan.
Gymnastics started to see a major interest as a sport in the 19th century but dates back all the way to the Greeks in the fifth century BC which was used for hand-to-hand combat by soldiers to increase muscle development.
Men are competing in six different floor and equipment events: floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, hammer, parallel bars, and horizontal bar, and women are competing in four different free-standing and equipment events: vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise.
