What To Watch: Gymnastics Summer 2024 Olympics

The summer Olympics are fast approaching. Gymnastics for the Olympics includes artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, and trampoline events. If you plan to tune in to any Gymnastics coverage from Paris, here is some information on how gymnastics is scored and who to look for on Team USA.

Artistic Gymnastics (July 27- August 5)

Events:

Artistic gymnastics has both men’s and women’s events. The men compete in six events: vault, high bar, parallel bars, rings, floor, and pommel horse. The women compete in four events: vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor. In 2024, Team USA sent five men with two alternates and five women with two alternates to Paris. There are individual and team medals and an all-around event in men’s and women’s gymnastics. The first round serves as the qualifier for team finals, all around finals, and the individual event finals.

Scoring:

For both men’s and women’s events, there is a difficulty score and an execution score. The execution score starts at 10.0 points, and deductions are made for errors such as steps on landing, bent knees, falls, or flexed feet. The difficulty score starts at zero and the athlete earns points for composition, difficulty level, and connection value. In women’s gymnastics, each routine receives points for the eight most difficult elements; in men’s gymnastics, they count the ten most difficult.

Team Scoring:

In the team event, there are two rounds. In the qualification round, four athletes compete on each apparatus, with the top three scores counting for each team. The three scores are added together for the team score. Only the top eight teams advance to the finals, where three athletes compete on each event. All of the scores count, and the highest team score wins.

All-Around vs Individual Event Finals:

An athlete attempting to qualify for the all-around final has to perform on all four events (for women) or six events (for men) to get a cumulative all-around score. Otherwise, they will only be in contention to make individual event finals or team finals if they are competing as part of a team. If a gymnast wants to make the individual event final on vault, they must perform two different vaults, and the scores are averaged.

The 24 gymnasts with the best cumulative individual scores from qualifying advance to the individual all-around final, two gymnasts from any one country may advance to the individual all-around final.

The final Olympic gymnastics competition consists of event finals, also called apparatus finals. The top eight scorers on each apparatus from the qualifying round advance to the respective apparatus finals, with a limit of only two per country.

Who to Watch:

Team USA Men’s gymnastics team includes Asher Hong, Paul Juda, Brody Malone, Stephen Nedoroscik, and Frederick Richard, with alternates Shane Wiskus, and Khoi Young. Malone is the only athlete from this team returning to the Olympics.

Team USA Women’s gymnastics team includes Simone Biles, Jade Carey, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, and Hezly Rivera, with alternates Joscelyn Roberson and Leanne Wong. Biles is returning for her 3rd Olympic games, and she is also an Olympic medalist and world medalist. Carey, Lee, and Chiles are all returning for their 2nd Olympic games. Lee is the reigning Olympic all-around champion from Tokyo. Carey won gold in Tokyo on the floor exercise. Chiles was a member of the silver medal team from Tokyo.

Trampoline (August 2)

Trampoline events fall under the gymnastic umbrella for competition. In the Olympics, there are 32 competitors, 16 men and 16 women. Countries are allowed a maximum of 2 male and 2 female competitors. In other international competitions, there are multiple trampoline events. However, there is only the individual trampoline event at the Olympic level.

Scoring:

In the first round of competition, athletes perform compulsory skills and a voluntary routine. Scoring for compulsory skills is based on specific skills and is judged on execution and difficulty. The voluntary routine must contain all ten skills and is judged on execution and difficulty; the flight time is also calculated and added to the score.

The top 8 male and top eight female athletes then progress to the final round of competition, where they only perform the voluntary routine. Both the preliminary round and the final round of the competition will take place on the same day.

Who to Watch:

The USA has qualified both a male and female athlete this year! Jessica Stevens and Aliaksei Shostak will represent Team USA this year. This will be Stevens’ first Olympics, while Shostak is returning after competing in Tokyo in the 2020 Olympic games.

Rhythmic Gymnastics (August 8-10)

Events:

The rhythmic gymnastics program for the Paris Olympics consists of individual competitions and group competitions.

Individual: The individual competition consists of 24 athletes performing four routines, one each with the ball, hoop, ribbon, and clubs. Each routine is scored separately and added together for the final score. The top 10 athletes then advance to the final round, which takes place the following day. The top 10 athletes perform all routines again and are scored. The athlete with the highest score wins the gold medal.

Group: The group competition consists of 14 teams of five athletes who perform routines with predetermined apparatuses. This year, the apparatuses are 5 hoops, and the other routine uses 3 ribbons and 2 balls. The top 8 teams progress to the final round, which takes place the next day. In this round, they perform both routines again to achieve their total score. The team with the highest score wins the gold medal.

Scoring:

Rhythmic Gymnastics is scored on difficulty, execution, and artistry. Deductions can occur if the time limit is exceeded, an athlete or apparatus goes out of bounds, or if an apparatus is dropped.

Who to Watch:

Evita Griskenas will represent Team USA in the individual event. She is returning for her second Olympic games this year. We are proud to say Athletico physical therapists were a part of Griskenas’ journey to the Olympics, and we are looking forward to seeing her compete in Paris.

I hope you enjoy watching all of the Summer Olympics this year, and I hope this guide helps you understand more about Artistic Gymnastics, Rhythmic Gymnastics, and the Trampoline events.

The Athletico blog is an educational resource written by Athletico employees. Athletico bloggers are licensed professionals who abide by the code of ethics outlined by their respective professional associations. The content published in blog posts represents the opinion of the individual author based on their expertise and experience. The content provided in this blog is for informational purposes only, does not constitute medical advice and should not be relied on for making personal health decisions.

References:
1. https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/gymnastics-101-olympic-scoring-rules-and-regulations
2. https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/gymnastics-101-olympic-competition-format
3. https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/rhythmic-gymnastics-101-olympic-competition-format
4. https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/trampoline-101-olympic-competition-format