A brief history of gymnastics

When did gymnastics start?

It’s difficult to put an exact date on when gymnastics started, but many experts think it originated in ancient Greece – about 2500 years ago!

It’s thought that the purpose for gymnastics training during this time was to prepare young men for war.

At the time, the gyms that the Greeks trained in were not only for physical education, but also for training their brains (a bit like schools today)!

In ancient gymnastics, the sport looked a lot different than it does today and covered a wide range of activities that have since branched out into other sports such as wrestling and athletics events.

Who created gymnastics and why?

Modern gymnastics as we know it today was invented by a German doctor called Friedrich Ludwig Jahn in the 1800s (around 200 years ago).

Jahn believed that physical education was important for our health and our national identity, which is why he created modern gymnastics.

He invented a lot of the equipment we use today including the balance beam, parallel bars, and rings.

This has led to him being thought of as the ‘father of gymnastics’.

[image source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn]

When did gymnastics become an Olympic sport?

Gymnastics became one of the first sports in the modern Olympics. It earned its spot in the first summer Olympic games in 1896 and is still a special part of the games to this day.

Since those first games, gymnastics has developed into the amazing sport that we know today, with better scoring systems and new categories for each of the events:

Artistic gymnastics involves vault, uneven bars, balance beam, pommel horse, still rings, parallel bars, horizontal bars, and floor.

Rhythmic gymnastics which involve apparatuses like hoops, balls, and ribbons, began at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.

When did gymnastics become popular in the UK?

Inspired by the work of Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, gymnastics were a big part of UK school education from the 1800s.

But in the UK, gymnastics further increased in popularity as the threat of World War 2 loomed in the 1930s. In preparation, the government took interest in building the fitness and health of young men.

Take a look at this amazing video from 1936 which shows a standard physical fitness class!!