Gymnastics: Poetry in motion

Olympic gymnastics comprises three different disciplines: artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline.

Of these three sub-categories, trampoline gymnastics was the latest entrant to the Olympic fold — making its debut at the 2000 Sydney Games. It features both men's and women's individual events.

Talking about Olympic gymnastics, the first name that comes to mind is that of Nadia Comeneci whose perfect 10 at the 1976 Montreal Games was the first ever awarded to an athlete in this discipline. Even after almost three decades, that Montreal Olympics feat by Comaneci remains the watermark for most gymnastics fans.

The 14-year-old Romanian achieved the seemingly impossible task of scoring a perfect score not just once but seven times at the Montreal Games.

The early Olympic Games featured some gymnastic disciplines which were rather crude in their form and presentation. They included rope climbing, tumbling and club swinging.

Settled down by 1924

The Olympic programme began to settle down by 1924, with men competing for individual medals and in team events on each apparatus. Four years later, women entered the arena of Olympic gymnastics at Amsterdam. And by 1952, the Soviet Union had emerged as the leading force in Olympic gymnastics.

That trend continued until the 2000 Sydney Games when the Russian gymnasts had a remarkable medal haul. However, after winning five gold medals at the Sydney Olympics, Russian supremacy in the sport is now on the wane. The men's team walked off empty-handed from the 2001 and 2002 World Championships, with a major star such as Alexei Nemov managing just a silver and a bronze, while Nikolai Kryukov finished a disappointing third in the pommel horse.

The women's team did not fare as badly as the Russian men, but they were far from inspiring. Svetlana Khorkina was the lone Russian gold medallist at the last World Championships.

And in Athens, Khorkina, for sure, will try her best to keep the Russian flag flying high. "I love new challenges. I don't like being traditional. My strongest rival is myself and if I manage to defeat myself, I shouldn't be bothering about defeating the others," said a bubbly Khorkina after ensuring her Athens berth.

While the US were shut out of the gymnastics medals tally in the 2000 Games, this year, at Athens, the American men's and women's teams will probably be the strongest ever gymnastics contingent for any Olympic Games. The men will be led by the Hamm brothers, Paul and Morgan.

Four years ago, the brothers made history as they became the first twins ever to compete in the same Olympic Games gymnastics competition. Brett McClure, Jason Gatson, Blaine Wilson and Guard Young are also on the US men's team. While all of the members of the US men's team are in their 20s, four of the women are teenagers. Terin Humphrey and Courtney Kupets are just 17, while Courtney McCool and Carly Patterson are 16. Annia Hatch (26) and Mohini Bhardwaj (25) are the senior members of the squad.

The strongest challenge for the Americans is likely to come from the Russians, while the Romanians and Chinese will be looking for their share of gymnastics glory as well. Romania, Russia and China have dominated artistic gymnastics recently. The Ukrainians are also strong and are led by Roman Zozulya, who is the new 2004 European Champion on parallel bars and an excellent all-around gymnast. It should be an emotional Olympics for Ukraine, following the tragic loss of the star Olexander Beresh, bronze medallist at Sydney. Beresh died in a car accident last winter.

Alina Kozich, the recently-crowned Ukrainian national champion and reigning European all-around champion, will be a force to reckon with in the women's all-around competition. Yuri Nikitin of Ukraine is the favourite to win the men's trampoline event.
Trampoline

Trampoline consists of a metal frame supporting the spring bed that the gymnasts bounce off to perform their routines. The trampoline is 5.05 metres long, 2.91m wide and 1.155m high. The bed is made of nylon or string material and is only about six millimetres thick. A large, thick mat, known as the safety platform, sits on the floor at each end of the trampoline to cushion any accidental fall.

STARS TO WATCH

Russia
Alexei Nemov, Svetlana Khorkina & Irina Karavaeva

Romania
Marian Dragulescu

US
Paul Hamm, Morgan Hamm, Blaine Wilson, Courtney McCool, Carly Patterson & Mohini Bhardwaj

Ukraine
Alina Kozich & Yuri Nikitin