Tumbling (gymnastics)

The Amateur Athletic Union of the United States has included tumbling since 1886 and added women's tumbling in 1938.[3]^:3

The National Collegiate Athletic Association previously included tumbling as an event, but removed it in 1962 to emphasise artistic gymnastics.[3]^:3 More recently in 2019 the NCAA recommended acrobatics and tumbling be added as a sport to the Emerging Sports for Women programme.[9]

The main piece of equipment used in tumbling is the tumbling track. The track is 25 metres (82 ft) long by 2 metres (6.6 ft) wide with a height of no more than 30 centimetres (12 in). The track is sprung and padded to assist the gymnasts during their pass. There are three lines running the length of the track. The middle line marks the centre of the track. The outer two mark the boundary of the track and are 150 centimetres (59 in) apart.[10] Although part of the track extends beyond these lines, a pass is considered interrupted if a gymnast touches the track outside these lines.[1]^:23

Before the tumbling track, there is a run-up area on which the gymnasts can generate speed before beginning their pass. This run-up area measures 10 metres (33 ft) in length and should be the same height as the track itself.[10]

At the end of the tumbling track there is a mat called the landing area. This mat is 6 metres (20 ft) long by 3 metres (9.8 ft) wide with a thickness of 30 centimetres (12 in). Within the landing area is a smaller landing zone, measuring 4 metres (13 ft) by 2 metres (6.6 ft), which is either filled in or outlined with a contrasting colour. Behind the landing area there must be an additional mat for safety, measuring at least 3 metres (9.8 ft) by 2 metres (6.6 ft).[10]

If desired, the gymnast may use a vaulting board to begin their pass. This may be placed either on the tumbling track or the run-up.[1]^:22

Tumbling competitions consist of two rounds. The first of these is a qualifying round for all participants, and the second is the final round for the top eight participants or teams. In the qualifying round, every participant performs two passes. In the final round, individual competitors perform an additional two passes while teams perform one pass per member. Each pass comprises eight elements. The first element of a pass may begin on the run-up but must land on the tumbling track. Passes are only allowed to move in the direction of the landing area, with the exception of the final element which may be performed in the opposite direction. A pass must have at least 3 elements to be scored and can be considered interrupted for a variety of reasons, such as the gymnast being out of bounds, the spotter touching the gymnast or a fall during the pass. All passes must end with a somersault, meaning the gymnast must flip at least once in the final skill.[1]^:19–23

In each round, a participant is not allowed to repeat the same element, with some exceptions. Some common moves with low point value are excluded from this rule. Elements can differ by the number of somersaults, twists or even the position of the gymnast's body. The same element may be repeated if it is preceded by a different element, and a skill with at least two somersaults and a twist may be repeated if the twist happens in a different phase of the skill.[1]^:19–22 For instance, a double somersault with a twist may be repeated if the twist happens during the first somersault in one element and during the second somersault in the other.

Federations are allowed to add requirements to the passes in the qualifying round or even make a particular pass required. At FIG events special requirements are placed on the qualifying passes such that the first pass does not award any difficulty points for twists greater than a half-twist and the second does not award difficulty points for the final element if it does not include at least a full twist and deducts points for not including two somersault skills with at least a full twist each thereby focusing the first pass on somersaults and the second on twisting. As a result, these passes are respectively known as the salto pass and twisting pass.[1]^:19–20

Tumbling passes are judged on two major components: difficulty and execution. Both are calculated to the tenth of a point. Scores are determined by a panel of judges. There are two judges who are responsible for the difficulty score, five for the execution score and one who oversees the panel and handles miscellaneous and contested issues regarding judging.[1]^:23–25

Difficulty judges are given competition cards before the gymnast performs this pass. These cards lay out the intended skills of the pass, and these judges are responsible for deducting points when the gymnast fails to perform the intended skills. Each skill has a pre-defined point value. Common connecting skills such as round-offs and handsprings have low difficulty values, and cartwheels have no value at all. Somersaults are given difficulty points based on how many flips and twists the gymnast performs and the position of their body during the skill.[1]^:21–24

Difficulty scores are consistent throughout all types of competitions with two exceptions. In youth competitions, skills have a maximum difficulty score of 4.3. In women's competitions, there is a 1.0-point bonus for each additional element with a difficulty value of at least 2.0 beyond the first.[1]^:23–24

Execution is scored based on each element's form, control, height and rhythm as well as the form and stability of the landing. Deductions are calculated independently by all five judges and taken from the maximum score of 10.0 points. The largest and smallest scores are ignored and the remaining scores are added together. At FIG events, this process of taking the middle three scores is done per element rather than per judge.[1]^:24

The gymnast's final score comes from adding the 3 execution scores and the difficulty score and subtracting any penalties incurred for things such as improper dress, improper procedure or an improper pass. Final scores are rounded to three decimal places. [1]^:20–25

In youth competitions, quadruple somersaults are banned. Performing this skill will result in the gymnast being disqualified from the competition.[1]^:23

Year	Location	Gold		Silver		Bronze
2007	Quebec City	Andrey Krylov (RUS)	79.200	Huanian Pan (CHN)	77.200	Sergei Artemenko (BLR)	74.900
2009	St. Petersburg	Tagir Murtazaev (RUS)	77.300	Song Yang (CHN)	75.000	Mikhail Kostyanov (RUS)	73.900
2010	Metz	Viktor Kyforenko (RUS)	76.300	Song Yang (CHN)	75.400	Andrey Krylov (RUS)	74.600
2011	Birmingham	Song Yang (CHN)	79.100	Luo Zhang (CHN)	76.500	Andrey Krylov (RUS)	75.800
2013	Sofia	Kristof Willerton (GBR)	74.900	Tagir Murtazaev (RUS)	74.800	Grigory Noskov (RUS)	74.200
2014	Daytona Beach	Song Yang (CHN)	78.800	Alexander Mironov (RUS)	77.000	Tagir Murtazaev (RUS)	75.000
2015	Odense	Song Yang (CHN)	79.100	Timofei Podust (RUS)	78.300	Kuo Zhang (CHN)	77.700
2017	Sofia	Kuo Zhang (CHN)	76.800	Anders Wesch (DEN)	75.500	Elliott Browne (GBR)	75.500
2018	St. Petersburg	Vadim Afanasev (RUS)	79.200	Elliott Browne (GBR)	77.900	Kuo Zhang (CHN)	77.700
2019	Tokyo	Aleksandr Lisitsyn (RUS)	78.700	Elliott Browne (GBR)	77.200	Kaden Brown (USA)	76.300

All results correct according to FIG database. Records only available from 2007. [11]

Year	Location	Gold		Silver		Bronze
2007	Quebec City	Anna Korobeinikova (RUS)	70.700	Olena Chabanenko (UKR)	68.200	Anastasiia Isupova (RUS)	67.700
2009	St. Petersburg	Anna Korobeinikova (RUS)	69.400	Elena Krasnokutckaia (RUS)	66.900	Ashley Speed (CAN)	62.800
2010	Metz	Anna Korobeinikova (RUS)	68.200	Elena Krasnokutckaia (RUS)	65.500	Marine Debuave (CHN)	63.400
2011	Birmingham	Jia Fangfang (CHN)	71.700	Anna Korobeinikova (RUS)	70.900	Elena Krasnokutckaia (RUS)	68.400
2013	Sofia	Jia Fangfang (CHN)	70.700	Lucie Colebeck (GBR)	67.400	Lingxi Chen (CHN)	67.000
2014	Daytona Beach	Rachel Letsche (GBR)	67.500	Lingxi Chen (CHN)	67.300	Raquel Pinto (POR)	66.100
2015	Odense	Jia Fangfang (CHN)	71.800	Lucie Colebeck (GBR)	69.100	Lingxi Chen (CHN)	67.900
2017	Sofia	Jia Fangfang (CHN)	72.300	Anna Korobeinikova (RUS)	72.100	Lucie Colebeck (GBR)	71.500
2018	St. Petersburg	Jia Fangfang (CHN)	71.100	Shanice Davidson (GBR)	69.500	Viktoriia Danilenko (RUS)	69.500
2019	Tokyo	Viktoriia Danilenko (RUS)	69.900	Shanice Davidson (GBR)	69.600	Megan Kealy (GBR)	69.000

All results correct according to FIG database. Records only available from 2007.[11]