Vault, Beam, Balance Bars and Floor Explained Ahead of World Artistic Gymnastics Championships 2023

Sep 28, 2023 | 12:36 PM EDT

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The preparations for the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships are in full swing in Antwerp. This beautiful Belgian city, specifically its Sportpaleis arena, will play host to the biggest names in the gymnastic world from September 30 onwards. The fans cannot wait for the championships to commence and witness the incredible displays of strength and grace from gymnasts around the globe.

The excitement has gone through the roof since Simone Biles‘ made a staunch comeback. The seven-time Olympic gymnastics medallist began her journey ten years ago with a debut in Antwerp. Now she returns to the city where it all began and has some secret moves up her sleeve.

The gymnastics G.O.A.T has drawn a lot of new fans to the sport with her fabled Yurchenko double pike. While most gymnastic enthusiasts watching her and her fellow gymnasts are awestruck by their moves, often, the viewers don’t understand the gymnastic terms used during the telecast. So, let’s take a panoramic view to understand the technical aspects of the terms, abbreviations, and symbols used during the championships.

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Common gymnastics terms

Like most other sports, gymnastics also has its own terminology. There are many terms in gymnastics that make it hard for even longtime fans to remember them all. The list given below of the terms will refresh the fan’s memories and also instruct them about some new coinages.

?????????? Term	??????? Definition	????? Abbreviation	?????????? AKA
Yurchenko	It is a vaulting technique where the athlete performs a round-off on their hands on the springboard and finishes with a backflip on the vaulting table.	N/A	N/A
Tsukahara	A vaulting style where instead of the springboard, the vaulting table is used as a means for a handspring followed by a half turn and a backflip finish.	N/A	Tsuk
full-in	It is a marvelous move performed on the mat that involves a full twisting double tuck and a back somersault at the end.	N/A	N/A
piked full-in	It is also a full twisting move, but it adds a double pike back somersault.	N/A	N/A
double double	As the name suggests, the move comprises a double twist and a double tuck with a final back somersault.	N/A	N/A
triple double	Instead of the double twist from the double double, this one has three twists, and the rest stays the same.	N/A	Biles 2
1/1	Full twist.	N/A	N/A
3/2	One full twist and a half.	N/A	N/A
2/1	Double twist	N/A	Double full
5/2	Two full twists and a half one at the end.	N/A	N/A
3/1	Triple twist	N/A	Triple full
7/2	Three full twists and a half one at the end.	N/A	N/A
CI	It is a competition scenario where just the team competitions are taking place.	N/A	N/A
CII	It is a competition only for the all-around gymnasts.	N/A	N/A
CIII	As per the rules, this sort of competition only allows individual event finals.	N/A	N/A

Abbreviations that you need to know

The artistic gymnastics rulebook is full of abbreviations. This article will inform you of these abbreviations and classify them into five different categories.

Disciplines

ACR ? Sports Acrobatics

AER ? Sports Aerobics

DMT ? Double Mini Trampoline

GFA ? Gymnastics for All

JO ? Junior Olympic

MAG ? Mens Artistic Gymnastics

PRK ? Parkour

RG ? Rhythmic Gymnastics

T&T ? Tumbling and Trampoline

TRA ? Trampoline

TUM ? Tumbling

WAG ? Women’s Artistic Gymnastics

Governing Bodies

AAU ? American Athletic Union

BG ? British Gymnastics

EG ? European Gymnastics

FIG ? F?d?ration Internationale de Gymnastique

GA ? Gymnastics Australia

GC ? Gymnastics Canada

NCAA ? National Collegiate Athletic Association

USAG ? USA Gymnastics

Apparatus

AB ? Asymmetric Bars

BB ? Balance Beam

FX ? Floor Exercise

HB ? High Bars

PB ? Parallel Bars

PH ? Pommel Horse

SR ? Still Rings

UB ? Uneven Bars (the same apparatus as Asymmetric Bars)

VT ? Vault

Competition Scoring

AA ? All-Around

CoP ? Code of Points

CV ? Connection Value

DD ? Difficulty Score

EF ? Event Final

EGR ? Element Group Requirement

EX ? Execution Score

OOB ? Out of Bounds

SB ? Series Bonus

SV ? Start Value

TF ? Team Final

Common Moves

BHS ? Back Handspring

BW ? Back Walkover

CW ? Cartwheel

DLO ? Double Layout

DTY ? Double Twisting Yurchenko

FF ? Flic Flac (another name for BHS)

FR ? Forward Roll

FTY ? Full Twisting Yurchenko

FHS ? Front Handspring

HS ? Handstand

LO ? Layout

LOSO ? Layout Step Out

PK ? Pike

RO ? Round Off

TTY ? Triple Twisting Yurchenko

TU ? Tuck

All the symbols related to gymnastics

With the knowledge of these abbreviations, even newbies can follow the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships without any confusion. However, there are certain symbols used in the gymnastics competition that most people cannot decipher.

These symbols often pertain to the result of an event, so it is crucial for everyone to know about them.

These are some of the most common symbols and their associated meanings.

G1– G1 pertains to Group 1, which you will find only in the World Championships and the Olympics.

B4– This is an archaic term from the time of the Cold War. It was used to denote the Big Four gymnastics competitions, namely the World Championships, the Olympics, the European Championships, and the World Cup.

C– The other major gymnastic events, such as the Asian Games, European Championships,? and Pan-American Games, are referred to as C, which stands for Continental Championships.

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D– This denotes domestic championships like the U.S. Classic. It may also appear during international competitions besides the names of the athletes performing on their home turf.

J– It refers to the junior circuit where the rising talents are developing.

X– This means nothing, and the competitions that don’t fit the criteria mentioned above use this symbol.

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