Illustration by Todd Detwiler
One of the great things about the Olympics is that it thrusts sports that most people don’t follow into the international spotlight. It feels as if we spend half our lives in St. Louis watching baseball, but we fall in love with gymnastics only once every four years, when we attach our nation’s pride to every leap off the balance beam. This month, Chaifetz Arena hosts the Men’s U.S. Olympic Trials and the Women’s P&G Gymnastics Championships, meaning that you don’t need a plane ticket to Brazil to see these athletes in action. Here’s what to watch for.
Format
The men’s Olympic trials will be held Thursday and Saturday. Each day accounts for 50 percent of the score. The qualification guidelines are quite complicated, but suffice it to say that if an athlete dominates at the trials, he’s guaranteed one of the five spots in Rio. The women’s championships will be held Friday and Sunday. The top performers will earn a chance to compete at the women’s Olympic trials, set for San Jose in July, where the final five will be named.
Men’s Events
Pommel Horse
Touching the apparatus only with their hands, gymnasts move between continuous circular movements and required scissors elements. Much of the routine is spent with the gymnast supporting all his weight with one hand while the other reaches for the opposite pommel.
Still Rings
Perhaps best known for the Iron Cross hold, this discipline requires a series of strength elements in which athletes hold difficult positions for (a very long-feeling) two seconds at a time while hanging between dangling rings, about 9 feet off the ground. Exceptional upper body strength is required.
Parallel Bars
Athletes swing between a set of bars, about 6 feet high and 20 inches apart. Watch for handstands, double front and back saltos (in which the gymnast loses sight of the bars while flying through the air), and double backward dismounts.
Horizontal Bar
In this crowd-pleasing event, gymnasts perform fearless release moves 15 feet above the bar, swinging around and around before executing high-flying dismounts.
Women’s Events
Balance Beam
The quintessential gymnastics event requires not only great balance (of course) but also courage, confidence, and dance skills. Athletes must cover the full length of the 4-inch-wide beam, and they’d better stick the landing.
Uneven Bars
The key to this exercise is timing—an athlete must release one bar and then grab the other, each at just the right moment. Exact handstand positions are expected, and pirouetting release moves are needed for a high score.
Unisex Events
Vault
Athletes sprint down a 25-meter runway, launch themselves from a springboard onto the table, and then fly through the air in a series of dizzying twists and turns. Sticking the landing is paramount.
Floor Exercise
Gymnasts traverse a 12-meter-by-12-meter area making difficult tumbling passes that are highlighted by flips and twists. Several elements must be included, such as acrobatics, a balance display, and a static strength move.
Ones to Watch
For the men, four veterans of the 2012 games: Jake Dalton, Danell Leyva, Sam Mikulak, and John Orozco. Newcomer Donnell Whittenburg has a case as the best American male gymnast. Among the women, Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman return after winning gold in 2012 as part of the renowned “Fierce Five” team. Simone Biles has been the best female gymnast in the world for the past three years.
