Changes During the 110 Years of the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
Grossfeld A. CHANGES DURING 110 YEARS OF THE WORLD ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS … Vol. 6 Issue 2: 5 - 27 CHANGES DURING THE 110 YEARS OF THE WORLD ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS CHAMPIONSHIPS Abie Grossfeld Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT, USA Original article Abstract This article presents changes, along with historical perspectives, in the World Gymnastics Championships during the last 110 years - 1903 to 2013. Changes include: the events contested, team and individual achievements and dominance, debut of skills, difficulty expansion, judges, scoring, competition format, Finals qualification system, expansion of FIG affiliation, frequency cycle of the WC, number of teams and gymnasts per competition, age requirement of gymnasts, team size, venues, apparatus, devices for learning, education and certification courses, disseminating information, and expanded media coverage. Keywords: History, Gymnasts, Rules, Judges. INTRODUCTION CHANGE IN THE CHAMPIONSHIPS NAME 2013 marked the 110th anniversary of the World Artistic Gymnastics From 1903 to 1913, the official title Championships. of the ‘world - international’ competition This article cites many changes and was organized by the European Federation differences in the WC that took place of Gymnastics (founded in 1881), which through the years. Timelines are presented was latter renamed to the FIG (1921). The for various aspects of gymnastics. title was changed in 1931 (or 1934 onward) to the World Gymnastics Championships Abbreviations and terms for this paper: (by same document it is not known when it WC for World Artistic Gymnastics really starts (FIG, 1981). For this paper, the Championships; OG for Olympic Games; championships from 1903 onward will be FIG for International Gymnastics referred to as the WC.
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