Gymnastics —Olympics: Gymnastics is a sport developed from fitness and beauty practices used by ancient Greeks . The sport involves a series of movements like handsprings, handstands and forward rolls . In gymnastics , the difficult acrobatic movements are often performed high above the ground. For this reason the sport is considered to be quite dangerous. There are various disciplines included in gymnastics . These disciplines are artistic gymnastics, house gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, sports aerobics, sports acrobatics, trampolining, general gymnastics and power tumbling .
Gymnastics in the Summer Games: Gymnastics was introduced to the Summer Games in 1896 Summer Olympics . For thirty years only men were allowed to participate in the event. Women's events were included in the program in 1928 Amsterdam Summer Games . Until 1984 Olympics , the only discipline competed for was artistic gymnastics . Rhythmic gymnastics was included in the schedule in 1984 . The latest addition to the Olympics gymnastics program is the trampolining discipline in 2000 Sydney Olympics . Artistic gymnastics is performed on apparatus . Men compete in floor, rings, vault, pommel horse, parallel bars and horizontal bars . Women compete on the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor . The competition includes all-round events and team events . Rhythmic gymnastics is strictly a women's competition . Women , accompanied by music, perform on a 13-metre-square floor area with rope, ball, hoop, clubs and ribbon . In the individual event , the gymnasts perform different routines with four of the five apparatus . In the team competition , teams of five gymnasts perform together once using clubs . The other time two gymnasts use hoops and three use ribbons . Trampoline gymnastics features both men's and women's individual events .
Gymnastics at the 2008 Summer Games: At the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing , the gymnastics events will be held between 9 th August and 24 th August . The artistic gymnastics will be held from 9 th August to 19 th August . The trampoline events are scheduled on 16 th , 18 th and 19 th August . The rhythmic gymnastics will be held from 21 st to 24 th August . Artistic gymnastics and trampoline events are scheduled to take place at the National Indoor Stadium , Olympic Green in the Chaoyang District . Rhythmic gymnastics will be held at the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium, Beijing University of Technology in the Chaoyang District . Total number of gold medals in contention for gymnastics events is 18 , with 14 gold medal for the artistic discipline and 2 each for the trampoline and rhythmic disciplines. Romania, Russia and United States are the leading countries in the field of gymnastics .
Paul Elbert Hamm, Dae Eun Kim, Tae Young Yang, Kyle Shewfelt, Marian Dragulescu, Isao Yoneda, Li Xiaopeng, Hiroyuki Tomita, Teng Haibin, Takehiro Kashima, Dimosthenis Tampakos, Gervasio Deferr Angel, Jevgenijs Sapronenko, Yuri Nikitin, Alexander Moskalenko and Henrik Stehlik are the leading male gymnasts to be watched in the Beijing Summer Games .
Among the women gymnasts , Carly Rae Patterson, Svietlana Vasil'ievna Khorkina, Zhang Nan, Simona Amanar, Maria Olaru, Liu Xuan, Elena , Produnova, Catalina Ponor, Alexandra Georgiana Eremia, Nicoleta Daniela Sofronie, Patricia Moreno, Émilie Lepennec, Terin Marie Humphrey, Courtney Anne Kupets, Monica Rosu, Annia Portuondo Hatch, Anna Anatolyevna Pavlova, Alina Kabaeva, Irina Tchachina, Anna Bessonova, Natalia Lavrova, Karen Cockburn and Huang Shanshan are the expected contenders in the twenty-ninth Summer Games .
