One of the oldest sports in the Olympics, gymnastics began in ancient Greece more than 2000 years ago.
Men gathered at "gymnasiums" -- the center of activity for the time -- not only practice the sport, but also to debate about art, literature and philosophy. The major focus of gymnastics focused on finding symmetry between the mind and body by pairing physical exercise with intellectual activity -- Plato, Aristotle and Homer advocated strengthening qualities of gymnastic activity.
Christians of the time considered gymnastics Satanic because of its focus on the body -- gymnasts performed in the nude at the all-male ancient Games of Olympia. After financial corruption led to the banning of gymnastics in 393 A.D., the sport did not reappear in the public arena until the 16th century. "Artistic" gymnastics came to be in the early 1800s, distinguishing free-flowing styles from the techniques used by the military.
Competitions began to flourish in schools, athletic clubs and ethnic organizations across Europe in the 1880s and when the Olympic movement was resurrected at the first Olympics Games in Athens in 1896, gymnastics made a fitting return. Germany, which was key in developing apparatus gymnastics, won most of the medals as men from five countries competed in the horizontal bar, parallel bars, pommel horse, rings and vault.
Non-artistic events such as rope climbing, tumbling and club swinging did not survive the evolution of the sport, and the Olympic program began to settle in 1924. Men continued competing for individual medals and in team events on each apparatus. Four years later, women began competing in Olympic gymnastics at Amsterdam.
Rhythmic gymnastics
The first experimental competitions of rhythmic gymnastics took place in Eastern Europe during the 1930s and included a trace of elementary choreography. This form of gymnastics incorporates many positions and leaps from ballet -- including plies, jetes, attitudes and arabesques -- veering away from apparatus work.
The Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) recognized rhythmic gymnastics as an official discipline in 1962. Two years later, the first World Championships were held -- 28 gymnasts, all women, from 10 European countries participated. Gymnasts from the U.S. first appeared at the championships as rhythmic gymnastics made a name for itself.
Popularity for the sport swelled and the first individual all-around competition was introduced into the Olympic Games in 1984.
Trampoline
Trampoline is the newest gymnastic discipline and makes its debut at the Sydney Games.
Apparently, the first trampoline dates back to the Alaskan Inuits, but North America used a type of trampoline as early as the mid-1800s, and circus acrobats have used devices resembling trampolines for at least 200 years.
While the device was used to train soldiers and astronauts, trampoline was growing into a sport by the mid-1950s. Great Britain held the first televised national championships in 1958 and six years later, London hosted the first World Championships. The following year, the International Trampoline Federation was formally recognized and the first European Championship was held in Paris in 1969. From then on, it has alternated years with the World Championships.