Did you know… back in the ancient days, the Greeks were so serious about preparing their young men for war that they used gymnastics as a training method?’ – wickersgymnasticsc. Gymnastics is a very hard sport and you have to be physically and mentally tough . Today I’ll be telling you about all the events, what you have to do to be a gymnast and what competing is like.
In the Olympics, there are 4 events that women compete in: vault, uneven bars, beam, and floor. On vault you run up to an ovalish brown table and you put your hands on it and flip off and land on a mat. On bars you have 2 bars that are different heights and you can wear grips. Grips are like gloves that you put your middle finger and ring finger through 2 holes then buckle them around your wrist. Also, you put chalk on them to help you get a better grip on the bars. A balance beam is a 4 inch wide piece of wood that has cushioning around it. You can do flips, handstands, cartwheels, etc. The last event is floor. On the floor you have a dance routine that has flips and leaps added in. The men have a few more events than the women. Men have floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars, and horizontal bar. Then there is trampoline and tumbling, which men and women can do and you have 3 events: trampoline, tumbling, and double mini. A trampoline is a square with mats around it and you do flips and jumps. On tumbling you tumble on a rod floor which is a long bouncy carpet floor. A double mini is a small trampoline that you run up to and jump on and do flips or jumps.
If you want to be a gymnast, there are some things that you can practice to help you learn the basics. One thing that can help you become a gymnast is practicing your balance, you can practice by standing on one foot and practicing on the other one, also you can practice jumping and landing on one foot. Another thing you need to do to be a gymnast is to practice your flexibility. Stretching every day is an easy way to get flexible. Practicing your splits helps because when you do leaps or jumps, you need straight legs and pointed toes. Getting your back flexible helps you when you learn how to do back walkovers, back handsprings or front walkovers
.Also, to be a gymnast, you need to be strong because if you’re tumbling you need to be strong enough to hold yourself up and not fall right on your face. You need to be strong but you need lots of core strength, so practicing sit ups, push ups, v ups, and handstands are great ways to get strong.
Now I’m gonna tell you a little bit about what competing is like for lower-level gymnasts. When you are competing it’s so fun, you get a little nervous but after a while you get used to it. The morning before the meet is the most stressful because you have to get your hair put up out of your face then you have to get dressed and eat something so you’re not hungry when you’re competing. Getting your awards at the end of the day is one of my favorite parts about competing because you get to know how well you did. Sometimes you don’t get the scores you thought you would get but that is what pushes me to do better next time.
I hope you learned a lot about gymnastics and you’ll think about trying a class at your local gym! If you want to see some cool moves, watch Simone Biles and to see who the gymnasts were who competed for the USA in Paris for the Olympics, click on the links.
