Need To Know: Gymnastics

Fast Facts

Dates: July 28-Aug. 7 (artistic), Aug. 3-4 (trampoline), Aug. 9-12 (rhythmic).

Venue: North Greenwich Arena — a.k.a. The O2 Arena (artistic and trampoline), Wembley Arena (rhythmic).

Medal Events: 18 (14 artistic, 2 rhythmic, 2 trampoline).

Athletes: 324 (196 artistic, 96 rhythmic, 32 trampoline).

The Basics

The artistic gymnastics program consists of six individual apparatus events for men (floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars, horizontal bar) and four for women (vault, uneven bars, balance beam, floor).

After every gymnast competes in a qualifying round, the top eight on each apparatus (maximum two per country) move on to the individual apparatus finals. The top 24 overall (max two per country) make it to the individual all-around final, in which every gymnast must compete on every apparatus. The top eight teams advance to the team final, where three athletes from each five-member team compete on each apparatus.

Rhythmic gymnastics is one of only two Olympic events that are for women only (synchronized swimming is the other). Athletes are scored by a panel of judges on their ability to perform a floor routine while manipulating an apparatus. In London, the devices used will be a ball (about 20 cm in diameter, made of rubber or soft plastic), a hoop (about 80 cm in diameter), a ribbon (six metres long with a stick at the bottom so the performer can keep it in perpetual motion) and clubs (those bowling-pin-link objects you’ve seen jugglers use).

There are two competitions: the individual all-around and the group all-around. In the individual, each athlete performs a separate routine with each of the four apparatus. Best total score wins. In the group, teams of five perform two routines: the first with five balls, the second with three ribbons and two hoops. Best total score wins.

In the trampoline event, athletes try to impress judges with a series of single, double and triple somersaults that sometimes include twists.

In both rhythmic and artistic gymnastics, as well as trampoline, athletes are judged on how cleanly they execute their routines, with the degree of difficulty taken into account.

Canadians To Watch

If trampolinist Karen Cockburn can land a medal in London, she’ll become the first Canadian to reach the podium at four consecutive Summer Games. The Torontonian started her run with a bronze in 2000 in Sydney before winning back-to-back silvers. But Cockburn, 31, hasn’t won an individual world championship medal since 2009 (she missed the 2010 event with an illness and finished fourth last year) and may be on the verge of being overtaken by Rosannagh MacLennan. Cockburn’s teammate in the synchro (a non-Olympic event) finished on the individual podium at each of the last two world championships.

International Athletes To Watch

Kohei Uchimura (Japan): The men’s all-around silver medallist in Beijing dominated at the world championships in Tokyo last fall, where he joined Svetlana Khorkina as the only gymnasts to win three world all-around titles, and the first to take three straight. Known for his elegance and technical proficiency, Uchimura also won gold in the floor exercise in Tokyo, added a bronze on the horizontal bar, and helped Japan to a silver in the team event. He’s a candidate to win multiple medals in London.

Jordyn Wieber (United States): The 17-year-old from Michigan won the women’s all-around world title last fall and led the U.S.  to the team gold, making her a favourite to become the fourth American woman (behind Mary Lou Retton in 1984, Carly Patterson in 2004 and Nastia Liukin in 2008) to win Olympic all-around gold. To do that, she’ll need to buck a recent trend: no reigning world all-around champ has won the Olympic gold since Lilia Podkopayeva in 1996.

Canada’s Medal Outlook

In the history of the Olympics, Canada has won only one medal in artistic gymnastics (Kyle Shewfelt’s gold in the floor exercise in 2004) and one in rhythmic gymnastics (Lori Fung’s individual all-around gold at the boycotted 1984 Games). Those totals are unlikely to increase in London (the men’s team didn’t even qualify), so the best hope for a podium finish once against lies in trampoline, with three-time Olympic medallist Karen Cockburn and two-time world championship medallist Rosannagh MacLennan lurking as legitimate podium threats. Cockburn is ranked No. 3 in the world, and MacLennan is No. 5. The guess is that one of them makes it, but two medals is a possibility.