Let's Celebrate!

A world gymnastics celebration in the year of Montreal’s 375th anniversary and Canada’s 150th, 50 years after Expo 67 in the city that hosted Nadia Comaneci’s historic performance at the 1976 Olympics.

Canada is hosting the event for the second time, having organized a successful 1985 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Montreal. The 2017 edition will be held at the Olympic Stadium, which will be fit out as an amphitheatre for the event with a seating capacity of 10,000.

Envision the world’s premier gymnastics event:

• 7 days of outstanding competition
• Over 500 gymnasts
• 80 countries
• 50,000 spectators
• Over 660 million viewers worldwide
• One of the top 10 Olympic sport World Championships

Witness amazing displays of power, elegance and emotion!

Men’s Artistic Gymnastics consists of six events:

Floor exercise

Floor exercises are performed on a 12×12 m mat without musical accompaniment. Men’s routines are characterized by a sequence of linked elements that demonstrate simultaneously: strength, flexibility, and balance. Each exercise consists of movements which combine several elements, such as somersaults, handstands, and rotations. The execution and the configuration of the exercise must express a personal flair. The whole surface of the floor must be used. The maximum time allowed for an exercise is 1 minute and 10 seconds.

Pommel horse

The Pommel horse is 1.15 m high and has two handles (12 cm pommels) attached to the apparatus body, set 40 to 45 cm apart. The routines make use of the full surface of the apparatus and present a succession of circular and pendulum-type swings, leg circles, scissors movements, and handstands.

Rings

The rings hang from a structure at 2.75 m above the ground. Ring routines should include swings and handstands to emphasize muscle strength. The program must end with an acrobatic dismount.

Vault

The vaulting table requires clean and powerful movements that combine height and length with one or more rotations, ending with a well-controlled landing. The level of difficulty determines the value of a vault. Marks are also awarded for body control and the landing position. The approach run is 25 m and the table height is 135 cm.

Parallel bars

Like the rings, the parallel bars, which are 1.95 m in height and 3.50 m in length, require a combination of swinging movements, swings, and handstands demanding strength. The gymnast must travel the full length of the apparatus and work on the top of the bars as well as below them.

Horizontal bar

The horizontal bar is 2.40 m wide and 2.75 m high. In this routine, the gymnast performs continuous and clean swinging movements and must not touch the bar with his body. He is required to demonstrate changes of grip, swinging movements both forward and backward, with releases and re-grasps of the bar. Dismounts are an important part of the total routine and are usually acrobatic and spectacular.

Women’s Artistic Gymnastics consists of four events:

Vault

The vaulting table requires clean and powerful movements that combine height and length with one or more rotations, ending with a well-controlled landing. The level of difficulty determines the value of a vault. Marks are also awarded for body control and the landing position. The approach run is 25 m and the table height is 125 cm.

Uneven bars

The uneven bars consist of two wooden or fibreglass bars, each resting on vertical supports of different heights. The lower bar is 1.61 m from the floor, while the upper bar is at 2.41 meters.

Balance beam

Perhaps the most dramatic piece of apparatus in women’s gymnastics is the beam, a band 10 cm wide and 5 m long, on which competitors perform daring exercises, while perched at 1.25 m above the floor. Routines must include a variety of acrobatic elements, such as jumps and leaps, turns, steps, combinations of walking and running steps, as well as wave and balance elements performed in a standing, sitting, or lying position. The gymnast must use the entire length of the apparatus, while expressing simultaneously elegance, flexibility, confidence, and self-control. The maximum required time for the beam exercise is 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Floor exercise

While the competitor’s courage is tested on the beam, floor exercises are the gauge for skills and free expression. Accompanied by music, this performance is a blend of dance movements and a wide range of tumbling and acrobatic elements. The gymnastic or acrobatic elements vary according to the tempo, the mood or the direction taken over the 12 m x 12 m floor area. Individuality, originality, maturity, mastery, and artistic quality are the key ingredients for the highest score.

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