Gymnastic Events

If you’re thinking of entering a gymnastics competition, you should first know what you will be competing at. In gymnastics competition, women usually compete in vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor. Men usually compete in floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars, and high bar.

If you have your sights set on the big prize, then here is a short list of some of the biggest and most prestigious tournaments in the world: The World Championships (held in London, England in 2009), The Arthur Gander Memorial (held in Mores, Switzerland in 2009), the NCAA Men’s Championships (to be held at West Point, New York in 2010), the NCAA Women’s Championships (to be held in Gainesville, Florida in 2010), the European Championships (to be held in Birmingham, England in 2010), the World Artistic Championships (to be held in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 2010), the Asian Games (to be held in Guangzhou, China in 2010), the Pan American Games (to be held in Guadalajara, Mexico in 2011), and the Olympic Games (to be held in London, England in 2012).

To qualify for a major tournament, or the Olympics, you must have been tested as Elite. Most people that qualify have been Elite for a long time. To qualify for the Olympic Games, you also must be at least sixteen years of age. For other tournaments, sometimes you can qualify by winning smaller tournaments or by having a national ranking.

If you do happen to qualify for a major event and win, in most cases you will not receive a monetary award. If you win a medal in the Olympic Games, you’re probably not going to care about a monetary award. Money usually only lasts for so long, a medal and your name in this history books lasts forever. You pretty much make your name immortal. Not many people can do that. By winning a tournament, you will also receive a ton of name recognition, which will pretty much allow you to qualify for any other tournament in the world in the near future. And if you are looking for a monetary award, there might be one in the sense that someone will sponsor you and you will be able to get paid for a few advertisements.

Before you can even dream about reaching these lofty goals, you first must understand the levels. The age groups for competition are often broken down as 6-7 years old, 8-9, 10-12, and 12+. Gymnasts are also rated at ten different levels, ten being the highest. Past ten, there is also the junior elite level and the senior elite level.

Competition usually begins at level four, but sometimes even at level three. The first three levels are usually for beginners or the recreational level. They usually focus on the basics, such as somersaults, handsets, rolls, cartwheels, etc. Levels four through seven are often the intermediate level. Levels eight and above are the advanced levels. You must possess certain skills, and often a certain attitude, to progress to the higher levels. The skills will often be shown during routines.

Regardless of what level you’re at or what your goals are, you must keep in mind that even if you fail in gymnastics, you’ve still really succeeded. The reason for this is because gymnastics is a sport where you are improving your flexibility, strength, coordination, balance, confidence, and focus. There aren’t many things you can do in life that will bring all those benefits with it. Plus, if you somehow get as far as to make it to a major tournament, then your skills are obviously well above average. So, basically, if you ever qualify for a tournament, you’ve already won. All you have to do at that point is relax and enjoy yourself.