The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the Code of Points used to score performances and regulates all aspects of elite international competition.

[11] The existing women's program—all-around and event finals on the vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise—was introduced at the 1950 World Championships and at the 1952 Summer Olympics.

While it was not unheard of for teenagers to compete in the 1960s – Ludmilla Tourischeva was 16 at her first Olympics in 1968 – younger female gymnasts slowly became the norm as the sport's difficulty increased.

By the time of the 1992 Summer Olympics, elite gymnasts consisted almost exclusively of "pixies" – underweight young teenagers – and concerns were raised about athletes' welfare.

Yang Hak-seon, Eugen Mack, Alexei Nemov, Vitaly Scherbo, Li Xiaopeng, and Lou Yun have each won three titles.

This provides a firm surface that will respond with force when compressed, allowing gymnasts to achieve extra height and a softer landing than possible on a regular floor.

To make the exercise more challenging, gymnasts will often include variations on typical circling skills by turning ("moores" and "spindles") or by straddling their legs ("flares").

Krisztián Berki, Dmitry Bilozerchev, Pae Gil-su, Xiao Qin, Boris Shakhlin, and Marius Urzică, have won at least three titles apiece.

The still rings are suspended on wire cable from a point 5.8 m (19 ft) off the floor[24] and adjusted in height so the gymnast has room to hang freely and swing.

Nikolai Andrianov, Albert Azaryan, Alexander Dityatin, Alois Hudec, Akinori Nakayama, Eleftherios Petrounias, and Liu Yang each have at least three such titles, as does Dmitry Bilozerchev if the Alternate Olympics are included.

Higher-level gymnasts usually wear leather grips to ensure a firm hold on the bars while protecting their hands from painful blisters and tears (known as rips).

[25] Gymnasts perform routines ranging from 70 to 90 seconds long, consisting of leaps, acrobatic skills, turns, and dance elements on a padded spring beam.

A routine that included all required elements received a base SV—9.4 in 1996, 9.0 in 1997, 8.8 in 2001—and gymnasts could increase their SV to a maximum of 10 by performing more challenging skills and combinations.

Some gymnasts and coaches—including Olympic gold medalists Lilia Podkopayeva, Svetlana Boginskaya, Shannon Miller, and Vitaly Scherbo, and Romanian team coach Nicolae Forminte — publicly opposed the new Code of Points when it was first announced.

[41][42] After that, using the centralized training system pioneered by Béla Károlyi, they remained a dominant force in women's team and individual events for nearly four decades.

At the 2019 World Championships, it finished 22nd out of 24 teams—beating only the Czech Republic and Egypt—and again failed to qualify a team to the 2020 Summer Olympics, with only Maria Holbură earning an individual spot.

[52] After the Olympics were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a second Romanian gymnast, Larisa Iordache, earned an individual spot through the 2021 European Championships.

At the 1984 Olympics, which the Soviet bloc boycotted, the American men won the gold with a team composed of Bart Conner, Tim Daggett, Mitch Gaylord, Jim Hartung, Scott Johnson, and Peter Vidmar.

[81] At the 2005 World Championships, American women won the gold and silver in the all-around and in every event final except vault (where Alicia Sacramone placed third).

[98] The Chinese women's team won gold at the 2006 World Championships[99] and 2008 Olympics,[100] and has produced individual gymnasts like Mo Huilan, Kui Yuanyuan, Yang Bo, Cheng Fei, Sui Lu, Huang Huidan, Yao Jinnan, and Fan Yilin.

Chinese women who have won individual Olympic gold medals are Ma Yanhong,[101] Lu Li,[102] Liu Xuan,[103] He Kexin,[104] Deng Linlin,[105] and Guan Chenchen.

Though for many years considered a two-event team (uneven bars and balance beam), China has developed successful all-arounders like Olympic bronze medalists Liu Xuan (2000),[106] Zhang Nan (2004),[107] and Yang Yilin (2008).

[118][119] The women have been less successful, but there have been individual standouts such as Olympic and World medalist Keiko Tanaka-Ikeda, who competed in the 1950s and 1960s,[120] and more recently Koko Tsurumi, Rie Tanaka, Natsumi Sasada, Yuko Shintake, Asuka Teramoto, Sae Miyakawa, Hitomi Hatakeda, Aiko Sugihara, and Mai Murakami.

Since its reunification, Germany has produced some medal-winning gymnasts, including Fabian Hambüchen, Philipp Boy, and Marcel Nguyen among the men and Pauline Schäfer, Elizabeth Seitz, Sophie Scheder, and Tabea Alt among the women.

Together, Czechoslovakia and its precursor, the Austro-Hungarian constituent Bohemia, produced four men's World all-around champions: Josef Čada in 1907, Ferdinand Steiner in 1911, František Pecháček in 1922, and Jan Gajdoš in 1938.

During the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, gymnast Simone Biles took a step back from competition to assess her mental health and ensure she was not putting herself at a greater risk of physical injury.

[170][171] Abusive coaching and training practices in gymnastics gained widespread attention after Joan Ryan's book Little Girls in Pretty Boxes was published in 1995.

[179][180][181][182] In April 2020, Maggie Haney, former coach of Olympian Laurie Hernandez, was suspended for eight years following her allegations of verbal and emotional abuse toward her gymnasts.

[186] Upon investigations of those working closely with Larry Nassar, John Geddert, head coach of the 2012 Women's Olympic Team, was suspended by USA Gymnastics for sexual assault, physical abuse, and human trafficking, and committed suicide shortly after being charged in February 2021.

[187] The Federal Bureau of Investigation had heard allegations from gymnasts regarding their sexual abuse as early as 2015 but did not address them until years later when Nassar was sentenced to prison in 2017.