Artistic gymnastics like all sports has its own rules and regulations, that must be respected for all the athletes that wants to participate in the competitions. These rules were published by the FIG (International Federation of Gymnastics) and are the following ones:
- All gymnasts must be at least 16 years old
- The old scoring system of Perfect 10 has been abolished to create room for more open marking system
- There are no mixed events — men and women competitions are held separately
- Final scores are based on difficulty of the routine and the execution
- The difficulty (“D”) score begins at 0.0 and is marked up with every difficult skill performed
- The execution (“E”) is scored at a 10.0, and the judges deduct for errors in performance
- The deductions are:
- Minor error = 0.1
- Serious errors = 0.4 to 1.0
- Gymnast falls off a piece of apparatus = 0.5
- All gymnasts are given only one attempt on each apparatus
- Only if the gymnast has been interrupted by an external factor can he/she be allowed another chance
- Gymnasts are permitted to wear bandages or leather grips that will help increase friction on the apparatus
- While totaling, the highest and lowest marks are not considered, but an average score is calculated from the rest.
- Assistants known as ‘spotters’ may stand next to specified pieces of apparatus to prevent risk of injury but 0.4 will be taken off the final score if help is required.
- Spotters are allowed to help gymnasts mount the still rings and the horizontal bars.
- Gymnasts may be penalised for what the judges consider to be unsporting behaviour.
- Gymnasts must obtain permission to leave the arena during a competition.
Source
Text: own, with query data from:
http://olympics.sporting99.com/london-2012/sports/gymnastics-artistic-rules-and-regulations.html
http://gymnastics.isport.com/gymnastics-guides/gymnastics-rules-regulations
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