Men’s Artistic Gymnastics is a discipline practiced on six apparatuses. Gymnasts must include acrobatic elements, gymnastics and combinations with rotations in different axes showing strength, flexibility, balance, coordination and perfect control in their executions.
Routines are presented individually and have an average duration of thirty to ninety seconds. The characteristics of the routine vary according to the apparatus.
Age groups used at UPAG
Children’s Pan American Cup
- 11 and 12 years old
13 and 14 years old
Pan American Youth Cup
- 15 and 16 years
- 17 and 18 years old
Pan American Championship
- 15 to 18 years old (juvenile)
- 18 years and over (adult)
Men's Artistic Gymnastics Events
There are 6 apparatuses: Floor, pommel horse, rings, vaulting board, parallel bars and fixed bar. Also, you can compete as an Individual or Team, depending on the type of event.
There are 4 phases of competition.
- The Classification, from which the gymnasts move on to the different finals which can be:
- General Individual Final, better known as All Around, which is the sum of the scores obtained in the six apparatuses.
- Team Final
- Apparatus Finals where the 8 best gymnasts classified in each apparatus participate.
General requirements for Men's Artistic Gymnastics routines
Floor: The routine lasts up to 70 seconds and includes acrobatic and gymnastic movements identified in the scoring code.
Horse with hoops: The routine is based on the movement of the legs, which the gymnast must move circularly (windmills) supported with the hands, although it is a requirement to also execute pendulum movements (scissors). The movements must be performed without interruptions and without the legs touching the apparatus. The legs and feet must remain together and extended during the entire exercise, with the exception of some elements.
Rings: The routine consists of a series of strength, balance and balance exercises. The control of the apparatus and the difficulty of the elements are valued. It is the strength apparatus par excellence in men’s artistic gymnastics.
Jumping: The routine consists of jumping over a platform (jumping table) propelled by a trampoline. It is the shortest routine in artistic gymnastics. The jump must be performed with both feet together and simultaneously support both hands on the jumping table, having to fall in a balanced position after making turns on the transverse and longitudinal axes, which determines the difficulty of the jump.
Parallel bars: The routine consists of balance exercises (turns and handstands) and strength exercises, where the gymnast must use both bars, with the exception of some exercises that can be completed on one of the bars.
Fixed Bar: The routine consists of impulse movements. The gymnast must perform twisting movements and include spins, releases, retakes and pirouettes. One of the main characteristics of this apparatus is the fluidity with which the routine is developed. One element must be linked to another without stopping and maintaining the continuity and direction of the initial movement. To this effect, any interruption or unjustified change in the direction of the movement is cause for deduction.
Apparatus in Men's Artistic Gymnastics
- Floor Surface of 12 x 12 meters constructed of an elastic material to cushion falls.
- Horse with Arzones Apparatus composed of an elevated back on which are assembled two transversal arches (arzones). It has the following dimensions: 1.15 m high by 1.60 m long and a width of 35 cm. The height of the arches is 12 cm and the distance between both arches is adjustable between 40 cm and 45 cm.
- Rings Apparatus built by a structure from which two rings hang, 2.50 m from the ground. The distance between them is 50 cm and their internal diameter is 18 cm.
- Jumping The apparatus consists of the 25-meter running track, the trampoline and the jumping table, which has a height of 1.35 meters.
- Parallel Bars Consists of two 3.5 m long bars, placed at a height of 2.00 m and in parallel, separated by a distance between 42 cm and 52 cm.
- Fixed Bar Consists of a 2.40 m long bar, placed parallel to the ground on a metal structure 2.80 m high.
Evaluation of routines
There are two components:
- Composition, which has to do with the selection of the elements presented and refers to the difficulty of the routine.
- Execution, which refers to how the gymnast performs her routine.
For each apparatus, a Difficulty Grade (D) and an Execution Grade (E) are calculated. The latter starts at 10.00 points and the gymnast loses tenths of a point for execution and technical errors made during the routine.
According to the rules, deductions may be applied to the final grade known as neutrals.
The D and E grades are added together, neutral deductions are subtracted and the final grade is obtained.
A complete Judges Panel for world level competitions such as World Championships or Olympic Games is composed as follows:
- Difficulty Panel, consisting of 2 judges D1 and D2. Both calculate the difficulty of the exercise and give a common score.
- Performance Panel, made up of 5 judges who apply the performance and artistic presentation discounts.
In World and Olympic competitions a Reference Panel is added for the performance scores and is composed of 2 judges for each apparatus. In some apparatuses, line and time judges are also part of the Panel.
The competitions organized by UPAG are:
- The Pan American Junior and Adult Championships, as well as the Junior and Children’s Pan American Cups.
- The Pan American Championships are held every year and are sometimes part of the qualification process for other events such as the Pan American Games or Youth Olympic Games.
