The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), founded in 1881, is the oldest international sports federation. Gymnastics, recommended in ancient times by philosophers to combine physical exercise and intellectual activity, gained popularity in the 19th century with the introduction of competitions, including the one at the Athens Olympic Games in 1896. Artistic gymnastics, an emblematic discipline, involves individual competitions on different apparatus and a team competition, each apparatus requiring various skills such as strength, agility and coordination. Since 2005, routines have been evaluated according to a system combining a difficulty and execution score.
Artistic gymnastics has a rich Olympic history, having been present since the first Olympic Games of the modern era in 1896. Initially reserved for men, the competition opened to women in 1928 in Amsterdam. The women’s programme has grown gradually, culminating in six standardised events since the 1960 Games in Rome, while the men’s programme has eight events. The discipline has evolved over time, notably with the introduction of a new scoring system in 2005, inspired by legendary performances, such as Nadia Comaneci’s first perfect 10 at the Montreal Games in 1976.
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