Artistic Gymnastics

Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics where gymnasts perform short routines, about half a minute to a minute and a half, on different apparatus, with less time for vaulting. The FIG designed the Code of Points and regulates all aspects of international elite competition. Within individual countries, gymnastics is regulated by national federations, such as BAGA in Britain, USA Gymnastics in America, the Russian Federation of Aesthetic Gymnastics in Russia and Gymnastics Ireland in Ireland. Artistic gymnastics is one of the main gymnastic events at the Summer Olympic Games, and in many different gymnastics competitions.

 Daniel Keatings at the 2009
Artistic Gymnastics World Championships

           Scoring at the international level is regulated by the Code of Points. This system was significantly overhauled by 2006. Under the new Code of Points there are two different panels judging different aspects of the performance. Panel A covers difficulty, element group requirements and connection value and panel B covers composition, execution and artistry. The largest change to the Code was the abandonment of the "Perfect 10" for an open-ended scoring system for difficulty (the A score). The B score is still limited to a maximum of 10. The sum of the two provides a gymnast's total score for the routine. Theoretically this means scores could be infinite!