Ever more daring, ever higher — gymnasts have always been innovators, striving to nourish their sport with new moves and greater difficulty. Beyond medals and records, the supreme honor for a gymnast is to introduce a skill that comes to bear his or her name, allowing them to leave their mark on history.
While there are dozens of elements in the code of points named after the gymnast who first performed them, here are six things that could make a difference in the men’s competition.
High Bar: Connecting Kovacs release moves
For all the eye-catching skills in Gymnastics, nothing slays the crowd (or the judges) more than consecutive release moves on High Bar, in which the gymnast releases the bar, sails over it while performing flips or twists, and regrasps it on the way back down. The gymnast that connects these releases wins valuable bonus points. The best example is done by Dutchman Epke Zonderland, whose consecutive release skills contain both flips and twists, all variations of the basic “Kovacs” skill in which a gymnast flips twice over the bar before regrasping it. Zonderland’s smooth moves shot him to Olympic gold and the past two World titles on High Bar.
Parallel Bars: Mind the dismount
A lot hinges on a gymnast’s dismount from the Parallel Bars. While most opt for a standard double back flip with the body piked, those who attemptsomething more original often get rewarded. Germany’s Marcel Nguyen added a full twist to his dismount and earned an Olympic silver medal in 2012, while several potential finalists have begun doing forward-flipping dismounts to stand out.
Floor Exercise: The quadruple twist
When the long-anticipated back flip with four twists was finally performed on Men’s Floor exercise, notably by Japan’s Kenzo Shirai in 2013, it was all the more stunning because the teenage tumbling sensation did it at the end of his routine, a time when most gymnasts are too winded to attempt something so difficult. Shirai, obviously, is not most gymnasts: he dines out on twisting skills, and already has two that bear his name on Floor, among them the quad full.
Pommel Horse: The Busnari
Swinging to a handstand just before a dismount was standard on Pommel Horse for years before Italy’s Alberto Busnari had the original idea of continuing afterward, thereby creating the single hardest element on the event. The mechanics of the Busnari — where a gymnast swings to handstand, executes a pirouette and then swings down and continues circling his legs around the horse, demands an enormous amount of control, says Steve Butcher, President of the FIG Men’s Technical Committee: “Many people want to do it, and many people fall.”
Still Rings: A string of crosses
The iron cross, one of the classic symbols of strength in Gymnastics, has been turned on its head by gymnasts striving to produce new variations on an old feat of strength. Cross combinations, which earn bonus points from the judges, have been in vogue for the past few years. A few will attempt a Maltese cross, where the body and arms are completely parallel to the floor below, then hold the position and push their legs and trunk above their head, all without bending their arms or body to create a position known as an inverted cross. “Only the strongest guys in the world are capable of doing that type of combination,” says Butcher.
Vault: The Dragulescu
The Dragulescu vault in Men’s Gymnastics is like the Amanar in Women’s: Master it and you’re a top contender at any competition, anywhere. Romania’s Marian Dragulescu began performing his namesake skill, essentially two front flips with a half twist at the end, in the early 2000s. The vault brought him four World titles on the event and made him the favorite at two Olympic Games. But Vault finals are a two-jump affair, and in spite of nailing his signature skill in the Olympic finals in 2004 and 2008, Dragulescu left both Games empty-handed. Dragulescu’s rivals have also worked hard to master his vault, and today strive to use it to beat him in competition.
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