With the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championship knocking at the door, the entire gymnastics community is waiting to see their favorite gymnasts perform extraordinary tricks. However, no matter how big the event is, there is always a limitation in tricks and styles when it comes to gymnastics. This is succinctly for the safety of the athletes.

In this beautiful sport, gymnasts push themselves as much as they can to perform a trick. But sometimes, this can result in unexpected and horrific incidents. Keeping safety in consideration, certain skills and tricks that can cause serious injuries have been banned by authoritative bodies. Prohibition of some skills is absolutely necessary as it can cause life-threatening injuries or even death.

National and international organizations decide where to draw the line?

There are several stunts and tricks in the gymnastics arena that were the fans’ favorite and amassed a lot of attention. However, no matter how entertaining, the community cannot put entertainment above the safety of the gymnasts. This sport in itself is a creation, gymnasts make records by inventing their own tricks but the ones that can cause a threat to their lives will never be approved. The most important thing about gymnastics is to create, perform, and entertain, and all of this is brilliantly done by keeping the athletes out of danger by banning dangerous tricks.

The decision to ban the tricks eventually relies upon the internal review structures of National and International gymnastics organizations. All the gymnasts enter the sport with their own ideas of skills and tricks, and their level of safety is what keeps their tricks in the sport. The gymnastics legend Simone Biles has herself stated that athletes do not have to perform dangerous stunts to attain high points, clinch gold medals, or get recognition.

She herself has invented multiple moves and has created extraordinary records with them, but they are not that risky to attract life-threatening problems. If any such stunts are deemed risky, complete trust must be upon the review of these organizations’ structure for banning the move.

Reasons for the prohibition of such skills

Multiple gymnastics skills have been banned for numerous reasons. There are parameters set for banning any move and it mostly revolves around the safety of the athlete. With great sports comes great risks as well, and the main job of the governing bodies is to protect the gymnasts from any potential danger. Hence, multiple guidelines will be adhered to, for banning any move that can be of danger to the gymnast.

According to the Gymnastics Crown, the first and foremost is the risk of injury. This is one of the most common reasons why a skill might get banned. Tricks that can cause issues on the joints, ones that inculcate a landing that is difficult to control, or multiple positions that can cause a small mistake, leading to a very dangerous injury, might also be banned. Another reason that is considered is the move has had a historical pattern of causing injuries.

The other reason that is considered is developmental. Some moves are banned for certain age groups or skill levels to make sure that the athletes are not trying to attempt tricks they are not ready for.? Considering all such reasons, many moves have been banned from gymnastics.

Some dangerous moves that have been banned from the sport

Gymnastics is not a simple sport. It is a beautiful yet complex one to pursue. It requires keen consideration, smooth skills, and just the right strength. Among these, there are some gymnasts who try to push their skills and attempt some tricks that are either unsafe or hold a history of any incident. Some of the tricks that are banned were some loved by the gymnastics enthusiasts.

One is the Korbut flip, it is a gymnastics trick that is named after the Belarusian gymnast Olga Korbut. He performed this trick at the 1972 Munich Olympics. This trick inculcates standing on the high bar, jumping backward into the air, a backflip, then again getting hold of the bar and swinging towards the low bar. Although it had a very impressive visual appeal, it was very difficult to perform. So, due to the high involvement of risk, the Korbut Flip is no longer performed. It was banned by the International Gymnastics Federation.

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Another is the Mukhina Flip which was named after Soviet gymnast Elena Mukhina. This is a very dangerous move and is now banned because of a tragic accident. This occurred just prior to the 1980 Moscow Olympics during a practice routine. Another very famous trick that has been banned is Thomas Salto. This was named after an American gymnast, Kurt Thomas. It was a very dangerous trick and the degree of risk involved in it led to the ban of this move.

The fourth trick to get banned is the Produnova vault, which is also referred to as “vault of death.” It is also one of the most dangerous and life-threatening tricks to practice in the gymnastic community. Named after a Russian gymnast, the high level of complexity and the potential risks involved in it have led to the rare practice of this trick. This one is not completely banned.

After this, there is another trick called Gaylord II which was named after an American gymnast Mitch Gaylord. It is a release move on the high bar and this involves the chance of a severe fall. This trick is not completely banned, but its usage is highly frowned upon because of its extreme risk factor. There are many more tricks like this that will never again be seen in the realm of gymnastics.

Can banned moves still be practiced by a gymnast?

Not all the difficult tricks and moves are banned in this sport, only the ones that possess a higher amount of risk and injury scale are supposed to be eliminated from the official competitions. Some of the banned moves can still be practiced by the gymnasts and trained under professional supervision and under all the safety measures. However, these tricks are absolutely prohibited in championships or any kind of competition.

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There are several tricks that can be used by the gymnasts that can be performed in the place of the banned ones. The alternatives are completely safe and do not contain any potential risk for the gymnasts. On the other hand, if the risk element of a banned skill is improved with the usage of equipment or training techniques, then it can be reintroduced. With the World Artistic Gymnastics competition coming in, the excitement is obvious, but safety is also of paramount importance.

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