Vault (gymnastics)

The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is VT. German Friedrich Ludwig Jahn popularized the vault's early forms.

Following an accident in 1988 and compounded by incidents in 1998 and 2000, International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) re-evaluated and changed the apparatus, citing both safety reasons and the desire to facilitate more impressive acrobatics.

It features a flat, larger, and more cushioned surface almost parallel to the floor, which slopes downward at the end closest to the springboard; gymnasts nicknamed it the "tongue";[1] it appears to be somewhat safer than the old apparatus.

In 2009, FIG made some changes to put less emphasis on the difficulty and reduce the number of skills required, making the gymnasts focus harder on the perfect execution of the vault.

In 1988, American Julissa Gomez was paralyzed in a vaulting accident; she died from complications from her injuries three years later.

[14] During warmups at the 1998 Goodwill Games, Chinese gymnast Sang Lan fell and suffered paralysis from a cervical-spine injury.

[18] Both this study and an earlier one from 2015 recommended allowing more flexion at the knees during landing to reduce impact-related injuries.