Artistic Gymnastics

Artistic gymnastics is an apparatus sport. Men compete on six pieces of apparatus — floor exercise, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar — whilst women compete on four: vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Each routine is awarded two marks which are added together: difficulty and execution, from which penalties for errors are deducted. It originated in early 19th-century Europe from the educational gymnastics of Friedrich Ludwig Jahn in Germany and the Swedish school, and was immediately included in the programme of the modern Olympic Games in 1896; the International Gymnastics Federation, founded in 1881, is the oldest international sports federation. Women’s competitions were included in the Olympic programme in 1928. Competitions are organised across three levels: the team event, the individual all-around competition — where scores from all apparatus are totalled — and the apparatus finals, reserved for the best competitors on each apparatus. It requires explosive strength, extreme agility and precision measured in tenths of a point. At the 20th Mediterranean Games in Taranto 2026, artistic gymnastics will take place from 30 August to 2 September at the Palasport Campitelli in Grottaglie, with 14 titles up for grabs: men’s and women’s team events and all-around competitions, plus the ten apparatus finals.

• 1Six apparatus for men (floor exercise, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars, horizontal bar) and four for women (vault, uneven bars, balance beam, floor exercise)
• 2The score is the sum of the difficulty (D) and execution (E) marks, with any deductions subtracted
• 3In the all-around competition, the scores from all apparatus are added together
• 4The best performers on each apparatus qualify for the apparatus finals, with a limit on the number of athletes per country
• 5In Taranto, 14 titles will be contested from 30 August to 2 September at the Palasport Campitelli in Grottaglie