GYMNASTICS

Gymnastics is one of the oldest sports on the Olympic Programme, having been a men’s event at the first modern Games in Athens in 1896.

Artistic Gymnastics of women was introduced at the Paris Olympic Games in 1924.

There are 3 gymnastic disciplines at Olympic level; Artistic Gymnastics, Rhythmic Gymnastics and Trampolining.

In Artistic Gymnastics, both  male and female gymnasts are judged on all events for all the parts of the puzzle start to look like they fit; execution, degree of difficulty, and overall presentation skills. Both genders compete on the Vault and Floor exercises. Female gymnasts compete on the balance beam and uneven bars, whereas Males compete on the pommel horse, Rings, Parallel Bars and High Bar.

In Rhythmic Gymnastics, Female gymnasts (there are no events on the Olympic Programme for men yet) on a floor with equipment, including hoop, ball, ribbon or rope. Gymnasts are judged on their artistry, execution of skills, and difficulty of skills, for which they gain points Rhythmic Gymnastics was introduced to the Olympic Games in 1984.

Men and women compete individually trampolining which debuted at the Sydney Olympic Game in 2000. While bouncing on 708a trampoline athletes perform a series of complex movements including simple jumps in the straight, pike, tuck, or straddle position to more complex combinations of forward and/or backward somersaults and twists. Scoring is based on the difficulty and on the total seconds spent in the air.

In 1996 Barry McDonald became the first Irish athlete to compete at an Olympic Games. More recently, Ciaran Behan has represented Ireland at the London and Rio Olympic Games.

National Federation: Gymnastics Ireland

International Federation: International Gymnastics Federation

GYMNASTICS NEWS

CHILDREN NATIONWIDE TO JOIN OLYMPIANS ON ROAD TO PARIS

OLYMPIC FEDERATION OF IRELAND LAUNCHES ROAD TO PARIS – THE OLYMPIC SCHOOLS CHALLENGE   Schools nationwide are invited to join the Irish Olympic team on an interactive journey to the Olympic Games in Paris. The challenge is part of the OFI’s ‘Dare to Believe’ programme supported by PTSB Today the Olympic Federation of Ireland, together […]

Performance Round Up – December

Catch up on the latest results of Team Ireland athletes throughout the month of December! Daniel Wiffen Smashes The Oldest Swimming World Record Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen had the swim of his life on Sunday, smashing the oldest World swimming record on the books in the 800m Freestyle Final at the European Aquatics Short Course Championships in Otopeni, Romania. Wiffen, [...]

Olympic Movement Breaks Launched in Primary Schools Nationally

Team Ireland athletes star as Olympic Movement Breaks is launched in primary schools nationally The Olympic Federation of Ireland and the Active School Flag programmes work together to get Irish primary school pupils more active Minister of State for Sport and Physical Education Thomas Byrne TD Launches Initiative The Minister of State for Sport and […]

Gymnastics World Championships – Team and How To Watch

WOMEN’S ARTISTIC GYMNASTS Emma Slevin Halle Hilton MEN’S ARTISTIC GYMNASTS Adam Steele Dominick Cunningham Eamon Montgomery Rhys McClenaghan *Below schedule is in local Belgian time Qualifiers Day 1 - Saturday, September 30th 10:00 - 20:05 - Men's Artistic Gymnastics - Qualification Day 1 Day 2 - Sunday, October 1st 10:00 - 14:05 - Men's Artistic [...]

SELECTED ATHLETES

Rhys McClenaghan

Rhys McClenaghanGYMNASTICS BIOGRAPHY Rhys gave notice of his talent when he won European Junior silver in 2016 at his speciality - pommel horse – which was also Irish gymnastics’ first ever European medal. In 2018 he was European (senior) and Commonwealth champion in pommel, beating England’s reigning Olympic champion Max Whitlock in both. He tied [...]

Megan Ryan

Megan RyanGYMNASTICS BIOGRAPHY Megan comes from a big GAA family - her father Aidan captained the Cork hurlers and her sister Hayley plays camogie for Cork – but once she was selected for Gymnastics Ireland’s elite development team aged eight she never looked back and was 13 when she won her first Irish senior titles [...]

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