When did gymnastics become an Olympic sport?
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In 1881, the FIG was founded, and it remains the governing body of international gymnastics. It initially included only three countries and was called the European Gymnastics Federation until 1921, when the first non-European countries joined the federation and it was reorganized into its present form. Gymnastics was included in the program of the 1896 Summer Olympics, but women have been allowed to participate in the Olympics only since 1928. The World Championships, held since 1903, were open only to men until 1934. Since that time, two branches of artistic gymnastics have developed: women's artistic gymnastics (WAG) and men's artistic gymnastics (MAG). Unlike men's and women's branches of many other sports, WAG and MAG differ significantly in apparatus used at major competitions and in techniques.
Artistic gymnastics
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Prior to 1981, the minimum required age to compete in senior events sanctioned by the FIG (including the Olympic Games) was 14. The earliest champions in women's gymnastics tended to be in their 20s; most had studied ballet for years before entering the sport. Hungarian gymnast Ágnes Keleti won individual gold medals at the age of 35 at the 1956 Olympics. Larisa Latynina, the first great Soviet gymnast, won her first Olympic all-around medal at the age of 21, her second at 25 and her third at 29; she became the 1958 World Champion while pregnant with her daughter. Czech gymnast Věra Čáslavská, who followed Latynina to become a two-time Olympic all-around champion, was 22 before she started winning gold medals at the highest level of the sport, and won her final Olympic all-around title at the age of 26.
Age requirements in gymnastics
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Before the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Soviet gymnasts dominated both men's and women's gymnastics commencing with the introduction of the full women's program into the Olympics and the overall increased standardization of the Olympic Gymnastics competition format which happened in 1952. From 1952 to 1992 inclusive, the Soviet women's squad won almost every single team title in World Championship competition and at the Summer Olympics: the only four exceptions were the 1984 Olympics, which they did not attend, and the 1966, 1979 and 1987 World Championships. Some of the famous Soviet gymnasts were from the Russian SFSR, or of Russian origin born in the former SSR.
Sport in Russia
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Gymnastics is governed by Irish Gymnastics which was formed in 1999, following the merging of the Irish Amateur Gymnastics Association and the Irish Sports Acrobatics Federation. There are 83 registered gymnastics clubs in Ireland (including Northern Ireland). Gymnastics includes four Olympic disciplines, women's artistic gymnastics, men's artistic gymnastics, trampoline gymnastics, and rhythmic gymnastics, and four non Olympic disciplines, acrobatic gymnastics, tumbling gymnastics, gymnastics for all, and sports aerobics.
Sport in Ireland
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Before the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Soviet gymnasts dominated both men's and women's gymnastics, commencing with the introduction of the full women's program into the Olympics and the overall increased standardization of the Olympic gymnastics competition format which happened in 1952. Soviet Union's success might be explained by a heavy state's investment in sports to fulfil its political agenda on an international stage. They had many male stars, such as Olympic all-around champions Viktor Chukarin and Vitaly Scherbo, and female stars, such as Olympic all-around champion Larisa Latynina and World all-around and Olympic champion Svetlana Boginskaya who contributed to this tradition. From 1952 to 1992 inclusive, the Soviet women's squad won almost every single team title in World Championship competition and at the Summer Olympics: the only four exceptions were the 1984 Olympics, which they did not attend, and the 1966, 1979, and 1987 World Championships. Most of the famous Soviet gymnasts were from the Russian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR and the Byelorussian SSR.
Artistic gymnastics
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The time Rhythmic Gymnastics was officially added as an Olympic Sport at the 1984 Olympic Games. The gymnasts from Bulgaria and USSR were favored to win in Rhythmic Gymnastics but the Eastern led Boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics meant the top gymnasts were absent. Fung then trained with Romanian rhythmic gymnast Doina Stăiculescu but Fung would eventually upset Stăiculescu and be the first recipient of a gold medal the sport of Rhythmic Gymnastics.
Lori Fung
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In the 1970s, the average age of Olympic gymnasts began to decrease. While it was not unheard-of for teenagers to compete in the 1960s—Ludmilla Tourischeva was 16 at her first Olympics in 1968—younger female gymnasts slowly became the norm as the sport's difficulty increased. Smaller, lighter girls generally excelled in the more challenging acrobatic elements required by the redesigned Code of Points. The 58th Congress of the FIG—held in July 1980, just before the Olympics—decided to raise the minimum age for senior international competition from 14 to 15. The change, which came into effect two years later, did not eliminate the problem. By the time of the 1992 Summer Olympics, elite competitors consisted almost exclusively of "pixies"—underweight, prepubertal teenagers—and concerns were raised about athletes' welfare.
Artistic gymnastics
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Men's Artistic Gymnastics had been an Olympic sport since the beginning of the modern games. Women's gymnastics were introduced as a single (team) event in the 1928 games, but were not expanded until the 1952 games, when there were seven events. The International Federation of Gymnastics first drew up a code of points—for men—in 1949.
Perfect 10 (gymnastics)
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When rhythmic gymnastics was officially added as an Olympic Sport in 1984, athletes from USSR and Bulgaria were considered as favorites, but the Eastern led Boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics meant the top competitors were absent. Weber then went to win the bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics behind Romanian silver medalist Doina Stăiculescu. Between 1981 and 1986 she won nearly all national titles in various rhythmic gymnastics events in Western Germany.
Regina Weber
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The time Rhythmic Gymnastics was officially added as an Olympic Sport at the 1984 Olympic Games. The gymnasts from USSR and Bulgaria were considered the favored to win Rhythmic Gymnastics in Los Angeles but Eastern led Boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics put Stăiculescu the highest rank gymnast to compete in the Olympics, Canadian Lori Fung ( ranked 23rd ) at that time trained together with Stăiculescu who would eventually upset Stăiculescu for the gold medal. She won the silver medal in All-around at the Olympics. She is the only Romanian to win a medal in Rhythmic Gymnastics.
Doina Stăiculescu