The earliest evidence of gymnastics can be found on frescoes from the Minoan civilization (2700-1400 BC), which depict acrobats leaping over the horns of a bull.
"Gymnastics" is derived from the Greek word "gymnos" (naked) and, while gymnastics was never included in the ancient Olympic Games, it was regarded as training for other sports, such as wrestling and athletics. When the Games were abolished in 393 AD, there was a decline in the participation of many sports, including gymnastics. For several centuries, therefore, the sport was practiced mainly by acrobats performing their skills in traveling circuses and for royalty.
In the 18th century, philosophers began to stress the importance of physical exercise, but it was not until Frederic Louis Jahn recognized the national importance of gymnastics and turned it into a means of the German patriotic feeling that gymnastics became popular throughout Europe. Jahn, called the "father of gymnastics," invented various apparatus and exercises, wrote a book called "Die Deutsche Turnkunst" and developed Turner (gymnastic) societies in Germany. By the late 1800's many other countries had formed their own gymnastics societies, each of which was organized on a national level. Nicholas J. Cuperus, president of the Belgian Gymnastics Federation, invited delegates from several European gymnastics unions to a meeting held in conjunction with the Belgian gymnastics festival in 1881, and thus was born the European Gymnastics Federation, or FEG (renamed the Federation International de Gymnastique ("FIG") in 1921). Beginning in 1896 the FEG met every year or two, each time admitting more countries as members of the Federation.
The early competitions featured both gymnastics exercises (on pommel horse, rings, parallel and high bars, for example) and athletic exercises (running, high jump, weight lifting and pole vaulting), and were held in outdoor arenas. The athletic events were abolished at the 1936 Olympic Games, and were used for the last time at the 1950 World Championships.
Women began performing in gymnastics societies in the late 1800's. The first international festival which included female participation was held in Luxembourg in 1909, and exercises included rhythmic, Baltic and choreographic routines. The Amsterdam Olympics of 1928 featured the first women's gymnastics competition; women competed at the World Championships for the first time at the 1934 Budapest Worlds.
Being the first to execute a gymnastics skill in international competition is an accomplishment highly regarded in the sport. Moves are often named after the gymnast who first performs them. Here is our list of "who was the first to...?", to the best of our knowledge:
| Tsukahara | Ludmila Turischeva (URS) | '74 Worlds |
| Full twist on full twist off | Olga Korbut (URS) | '74 Worlds |
| Full-twisting tucked Tsukahara | Nelli Kim (URS) | '76 Olympics |
| Tucked front | Marta Egervari (HUN) & Maria Filatova (URS) | '76 Olympics |
| Layout Tsukahara | Maria Filatova & Natalia Shaposhnikova (URS) | '77 World Cup |
| Full-twisting layout Tsukahara | Natalia Shaposhnikova (URS) | '78 Worlds |
| Tucked front with * twist | Christa Canary (USA) | '78 Worlds |
| Cuervo | Christa Canary (USA) | '79 Worlds |
| Tucked double front | Choe Jong Sil (PRK) | '80 Olympics |
| Full twist on front tuck off | Elena Davydova (URS) | '80 Olympics |
| Layout Yurchenko | Natalia Yurchenko (URS) | '82 World Cup |
| Full-twisting layout Yurchenko | Natalia Yurchenko (URS) | '82 World Cup |
| 1.5-twisting layout Yurchenko | Elena Shushunova (URS) | '84 Olomouc |
| Double-twisting layout Yurchenko | Elena Gurova (URS) | '84 DTB Cup |
| Yurchenko on * twist to immediate layout front off | Snejana Hristakieva (BUL) | '92 Olympics |
| Layout front | Irina Evdokimova (KAZ) | '93 Worlds |
| * on * off to layout front salto | Jaycie Phelps (USA) | '94 Dortmund Worlds |
| Front salto over LB to sit on LB | Marta Egervari & Krisztina Medveczky (HUN) | '74 Worlds |
| Jump to clear hip on HB to handstand with * turn | Julianne McNamara (USA) | '81 Worlds |
| Round-off Arabian over LB to brief sit on LB | Michelle Goodwin (USA) | '81 Worlds |
| Round-off tucked back somersault over LB to recatch LB | Birgit Senff (GDR) | '84 Olomouc |
| Toe on * twist to tucked back | Nadia Comaneci (ROM) | '75 Europeans |
| Tucked double back | Nadia Chatarova (BUL) | '76 Olympics |
| Hecht to immediate full-twisting tucked back | Natalia Tereschenko (URS) | '78 American Cup |
| Hecht * twist to immediate tucked front | Ma Yanhong (CHN) | '79 Worlds |
| Double twisting flyaway | Kathy Johnson (USA) | '81 Worlds |
| Tucked full-in | Maiko Morio (JPN) | '83 Worlds |
| Double Layout | Diana Dudeva (BUL) | '87 Worlds |
| Tucked double front | Lacramioara Filip (ROM) & Sarah Mercer (GBR) | '89 Worlds |
| Tucked full-out | Oksana Chusovitina (URS) | '91 Worlds |
| Tucked full-in full-out | Oksana Fabrichnova (RUS) | '93 Worlds |
| FF from HB to recatch HB (Korbut) | Olga Korbut (URS) | '72 Olympics |
| Deltchev | Natalia Shaposhnikova (URS) | '77 World Cup |
| Giant swing | Natalia Shaposhnikova (URS) | '77 World Cup |
| Full-twisting Korbut | Elena Mukhina (URS) | '77 World Cup |
| Back stalder to handstand with full turn in handstand | Marcia Frederick (USA) | '78 Worlds |
| Tkachev | Elena Davydova (URS) | '80 Olympics |
| Tkachev to immediate Deltchev | Natalia Yurchenko (URS) | '83 Worlds |
| Underswing from HB with 1.5 twists and flight over LB to hand on LB (Strong) | Lori Strong (CAN) | '89 Worlds |
| Swing forward on HB (facing out) counter salto forward to recatch in reverse grip (Kim) | Kim Gwang Suk (PRK) | '89 Worlds |
| Def (full-twisting Gienger) | Snejana Hristakieva (BUL) | '91 Junior Europeans |
| Gaylord I Salto | Mo Huilan (CHN) | '94 Brisbane Worlds |
| Press to handstand | Larissa Latynina & Tamara Manina (URS) | '62 Worlds |
| Front tuck | Stella Zacharova (URS) | '79 World Cup |
| RO FF | Maxi Gnauck (GDR) | '81 Europeans |
| RO full-twisting tucked back | Kelly Garrison (USA) | '85 Worlds |
| RO layout | Natalia Yurchenko (URS) | '85 Worlds |
| RO full-twisting FF | Patricia Luconi (ITA) | '87 Worlds |
| Jump to 1-armed handstand | Janine Rankin (CAN) | '87 Worlds |
| Front handspring immediate tucked front | Anastasia Dzyundzyak (UZB) | '94 Asian Games |
| Cartwheel tucked back salto | Vera Caslvaska (TCH) | '62 Worlds |
| Tucked front | Keiko Ikeda (JPN) | '62 Worlds |
| Cartwheel full-twisting layout | Vera Caslavska (TCH) | '68 Olympics |
| Cartwheel double-twisting layout | Nadia Comaneci (ROM) | '75 Europeans |
| Tucked double back | Elena Mukhina & Natalia Shaposhnikova (URS) | '77 World Cup |
| Piked double back | Maria Filatova (URS) | '77 World Cup |
| Full-twisting tucked double back | Albina Shishova & Tatiana Frolova (URS) | '83 Worlds |
| Triple twist | Iva Cervenkova (TCH) | '83 Worlds |
| Cartwheel | Eva Bosakova (TCH) | '56 Olympics |
| Flick flack | Erika Zuchold (GDR) | '66 Worlds |
| Front handspring | Karin Janz & Erika Zuchold (GER)& Vera Caslavska (TCH) | '68 Olympics |
| Tucked back salto | Olga Korbut (URS) and Nancy Thies (USA) | '72 Olympics |
| FF to swing down and straddle beam (Korbut) | Olga Korbut (URS) | '72 Olympics |
| Layout salto | Aurelia Dobre (ROM) | '74 Worlds |
| Two consecutive layout stepout saltos | Eugenia Golea (ROM) | '84 American Cup |
| Tucked front salto | Carola Dombeck (GDR) | '76 Olympics |
| Tucked side salto | Elena Davydova (URS) | '76 American Cup |
| Side FF to back hip circle under beam (Yurchenko loop) | Natalia Yurchenko (URS) | '79 Spartakiade |
| Full-twisting Korbut (Rulfova) | Jana Rulfova (TCH) | '81 Worlds |
| Tucked back salto with full twist (from RO) | Albina Shishova (URS) | '83 Worlds |
| Tucked back salto with full twist (from a stand) | Aleftina Priakhina (URS) | '86 Junior Europeans |
| Layout salto with full twist (from RO) | Olessia Dudnik (URS) | 89 American Cup |
| Triple pirouette (Okino) | Betty Okino (USA) | '91 Worlds |
| Full-twisting back layout | Muriel Grossfeld (USA) | '60 Olympics |
| Double-twisting back layout | Zdenka Bujnackova (TCH) & Joan Moore (USA) & Ludmila Turischeva (URS) | '72 Olympics |
| Full twisting front layout | Margit Toth (HUN) | '76 Olympics |
| Tucked double back | Nadia Comaneci (ROM) | '76 American Cup |
| Tucked full-in | Elena Mukhina (URS) | '78 Worlds |
| Triple twisting back layout | Maxi Gnauck (GDR) | '79 Worlds |
| Full-twisting back layout punch front | Heidi Anderson (USA) | '79 Moscow News |
| Double layout | Diana Dudeva (BUL) | '83 Worlds |
| Double-twisting back layout punch front | Oksana Omelianchik (URS) | '85 Europeans |
| 1 * piked side salto | Elena Shushunova (URS) | '85 Europeans |
| Full-in full-out | Aleftina Priakhina (URS) | '86 Junior Europeans |
| Double front salto | Olga Strazheva (URS) | '86 Junior Europeans |
| Double back layout with full twist in 1st salto | Natiana Tuzhikova (URS) | '87 Worlds |
| Double full-in back out | Tatiana Groshkova (URS) | '89 Chunichi Cup |
| Double back layout with full twist in 2nd salto | Oksana Chusovitina (URS) | '91 Worlds |
| Double front salto with * twist in 2nd salto | Lilia Podkopayeva (UKR) | '95 Worlds |
| Full twisting back layout | Nobuyuki Aihara & Takashi Mitsukuri & Takashi Ono (JPN) | '60 Olympics |
| Tucked double back | Lasse Laine (FIN) | '67 Europeans |
| Double twisting back layout | Takashi Ono (JPN) | '68 Olympics |
| Triple twisting back layout | Eizo Kenmostu (JPN) | '70 Worlds |
| Piked double back | Nikolai Andrianov (URS) | '73 Europeans |
| Piked full-in | Vladimir Marchenko (URS) | '74 Riga Intl. |
| Double layout | Nikolai Andrianov (URS) | 77 World Cup |
| Double front salto | Jiri Tabak (TCH) | '77 Europeans |
| 1.5 twisting 1.5 side salto | Kurt Thomas (USA) | '78 Worlds |
| Triple back | Valery Lyukin (URS) | '87 Europeans |
| Double twisting front layout | Neil Thomas (GBR) | '90 Europeans |
| Flairs | Kurt Thomas (USA) | '76 Olympics |
| Magyar Travel | Zoltan Magyar (HUN) | '76 Olympics |
| Handstand in the middle of a routine | Bart Conner (USA) & Peter Vidmar (USA) & Alexander Ditiatin (URS) & Yuri Korolev (URS) | '82 World Cup |
| Flairs to handstand and back down to Flairs | Sven Tippelt (GDR) | '88 Olympics |
| Tucked back salto dismount | Lance Ringnald (USA) | '88 Olympics |
| Tucked full-in dismount | Nikolai Andrianov (URS) | '73 Europeans |
| Double back layout dismount | Nikolai Andrianov (URS) | '77 World Cup |
| Triple back tucked dismount | Yuri Korolev (URS) | '81 Europeans |
| Double back salto to a hang (Guczoghy) | Gyorgy Guczoghy (HUN) | 82 World Cup |
| Double front salto to a hang (Yamawaki) | Kyoji Yamawaki (JPN) | '84 Olympics |
| Double front salto with * twist dismount | Yuri Balabanov (URS) | '84 Olomouc |
| Layout Guczoghy | Paul O'Neill (USA) | '92 Worlds |
| Handspring * twist to tucked back salto (Cuervo) | Jorge Cuervo (CUB) | '73 University Games |
| Cartwheel layout side salto | Roberto Richards (CUB) | '80 Olympics |
| Handspring double front salto | Ricardo Richards (CUB) | '80 Olympics |
| Layout Tsukahara with full twist | Ron Galimore (USA) | '78 (?) NCAA Champs. |
| Layout Tsukahara with double twist | Artur Akopian (URS) | '81 Worlds |
| One-arm handspring to front tucked salto | Laszlo Boda (HUN) | '82 Junior Europeans |
| Layout Cuervo with full twist | Lou Yun (CHN) | '84 Olympics |
| Handspring front salto with 1.5 twists | Sylvio Kroll (GDR) | 85 Europeans |
| Layout Yurchenko | Li Jing (CHN) | '89 American Cup |
| Tucked double back | Mauno Nissinen (FIN) | '67 Europeans |
| Piked double back | Bodgan Makuts (URS) | '79 Worlds |
| Backwards giant swing to double back salto between the bars | Koji Sotomura (JPN) | '81 Worlds |
| Backwards giant swing with full twist | Yuri Balabanov (URS) | '84 Olomouc |
| Back salto straddled and piked with * twist to recatch | Stoyan Deltchev (BUL) | '77 Europeans |
| Reverse Hecht over HB to recatch (Tkachev) | Alexander Tkachev (URS) | '77 Europeans |
| Piked back salto with * twist to recatch | Eberhard Gienger (FRG) | '78 Worlds |
| One-arm giant swing to Tkachev | Miguel Arroyo (CUB) | '79 Worlds |
| Tucked double back salto over bar to recatch | Kovacs (HUN) | '79 Europeans |
| Full-twisting Gienger | Jacques Def (FRA) | '81 Worlds |
| Tucked front salto over bar to recatch | Mitch Gaylord (USA) | '81 Worlds |
| 2 consecutive Tkachevs | Yuri Korolev (URS) | '82 World Cup |
| One-arm giant swing to Deltchev (one-hand recatch) | Zsolt Borkai (HUN) | '84 Olomouc |
| Double twisting back layout | Gerhard Dietrich (GDR) | '66 Worlds |
| Piked double back | Andrzej Szajna (POL) & Mitsuo Tsukahara (JPN) | '70 Worlds |
| Tucked double back with full twist | Mitsuo Tsukahara (JPN) | '72 Olympics |
| Tucked triple back | Nikolai Andrianov (URS) | '74 Worlds |
| Double back layout | Nikolai Andrianov (URS) | '77 World Cup |
| Double back layout with full twist | Yuri Korolev (URS) | '81 Europeans |
| Double twisting double layout salto | Mas Watanabe (JPN) | '83 Worlds |
| Tucked triple back with full twist in 1st salto | Maik Belle (GDR) | '87 Europeans |
| Triple twisting double back layout | Alexander Fedorchenko (KAZ) | '95 Worlds |
Team: Men (CHN), Women (USA)
AA: Li Xiaoshuang (CHN), Lilia Podkoayeva (UKR)
Women's events:
| V | Simona Amanar (ROM) |
| UB | Svetlana Khorkina (RUS) |
| B | Shannon Miller (USA) |
| FX | Lilia Podkpayeva (UKR) |
Men's events:
| FX | Ioannis Melissanidis (GRE) |
| PH | Li Donghua (SUI) |
| SR | Yuri Chechi (ITA) |
| V | Alexei Nemov (RUS) |
| PB | Rustam Sharipov (UKR) |
| HB | Andreas Wecker (GER) |
Team: Men (CHN), Women (ROM)
AA: Li Xiaoshuang (CHN), Lilia Podkopayeva (UKR)
Women's events:
| V | Gina Gogean (ROM) |
| UB | Svetlana Khorkina (RUS) and Elena Piskun (BLR) |
| B | Dina Kochetkova (RUS) |
| FX | Gina Gogean (ROM) |
Men's events:
| FX | Vitaly Scherbo (BLR) |
| PH | Pae Gil Su (PRK) |
| SR | Yuri Chechi (ITA) |
| V | Alexei Nemov (RUS) |
| PB | Rustam Sharipov (UKR) |
| HB | Jesus Carballo (ESP) |
Team: Men (RUS), Women (ROM)
AA: Ivan Ivankov (BLR), Lilia Podkopayeva (UKR)
Women's events:
| V | Simona Amanar (ROM) |
| UB | Svetlana Khorkina (RUS), Lilia Podkopayeva (UKR), Simona Amanar (ROM) |
| B | Roza Galieva (RUS) |
| FX | Lilia Podkopayeva (UKR), Lavinia Milosovici (ROM) |
Men's events:
| FX | Vitaly Scherbo (BLR) |
| PH | Li Donghua (SUI) |
| SR | Yuri Chechi (ITA) |
| V | Vitaly Scherbo (BLR) |
| PB | Rustam Sharipov (UKR) |
| HB | Krasimir Dunev (BUL) |
AA: Blaine Wilson and Shannon Miller
Women's events:
| V | Dominique Dawes |
| UB | Dominique Dawes |
| B | Dominique Dawes |
| FX | Dominique Dawes |
Men's events:
| FX | Jay Thornton |
| PH | Josh Stein |
| SR | Kip Simons |
| V | Blaine Wilson |
| PB | Jair Lynch |
| HB | Bill Roth |
These are just the most recent results.
Olympic:
The USSR women won the team title in every Olympic Games in which they took part. The exception is the '84 Olympics, which the USSR boycotted. Romania captured the gold on this occasion. The USA women have won team gold once, in 1996. Four men's teams have won Olympic gold. Japan has won 5 times ('60, '64, '68, '72, and '76), the USSR 4 times ('52, '56, '80 and '88), and the USA and RUS once each ('84 and '96, respectively).
| 1952 | M.Gorokhovskaya(URS) | V. Chukarin (URS) |
| 1956 | L. Latynina (URS) | V. Chukarin (URS) |
| 1960 | L. Latynina (URS) | B. Shakhlin (URS) |
| 1964 | V. Caslavska (TCH) | Y. Endo (JPN) |
| 1968 | V. Caslavska (TCH) | S. Kato (JPN) |
| 1972 | L. Turischev (URS) | S. Kato (JPN) |
| 1976 | N. Comaneci (ROM) | N.Andrianov(URS) |
| 1980 | E. Davydova (URS) | A. Ditiatin (URS) |
| 1984 | M. Retton (USA) | K. Gushiken (JPN) |
| 1988 | E. Shushunova (URS) | V. Artemov (URS) |
| 1992 | T. Gutsu (EUN) | Vitaly Scherbo (EUN) |
| 1954 | URS | URS | V. Muratov (URS) | G. Rudiko (URS) |
| 1958 | URS | URS | B. Shakhlin (URS) | L. Latynina (URS) |
| 1962 | JPN | URS | Y. Titov (URS) | L. Latynina (URS) |
| 1966 | JPN | TCH | M. Voronin (URS) | V. Caslavska (TCH) |
| 1970 | JPN | URS | E. Kenmostu (JPN) | L. Turischeva (URS) |
| 1974 | JPN | URS | S. Kasamatsu (JPN) | L. Turischeva (URS) |
| 1978 | JPN | URS | N. Andrianov (URS) | E. Mukhina (URS) |
| 1979 | URS | ROM | A. Ditiatin (URS) | N. Kim (URS) |
| 1981 | URS | URS | Y. Korolev (URS) | O. Bicherova (URS) |
| 1983 | CHN | URS | D. Bilozerchev (URS) | N. Yurchenko (URS) |
| 1985 | URS | URS | Y. Korolev (URS) | E. Shushunova &O.Omelianchik(URS) |
| 1987 | URS | ROM | D. Bilozerchev (URS) | A. Dobre (ROM) |
| 1989 | URS | URS | I.Korobchinsky(URS) | S. Boginskaya (URS) |
| 1991 | URS | URS | G. Misutin (URS) | K. Zmeskal (USA) |
| 1993 | [no team] | [no team] | V. Scherbo (BLR) | S. Miller (USA) |
| 1994 | CHN | ROM | I. Ivankov (BLR) | S. Miller (USA) |
| 1955 | [no women] | B. Shakhlin (URS) |
| 1957 | L. Latynina (URS) | J. Blume (ESP) |
| 1959 | N. Kot (POL) | Y. Titov (URS) |
| 1961 | L. Latynina (URS) | M. Cerar (YUG) |
| 1963 | M. Bilic (YUG) | M. Cerar (YUG) |
| 1965 | V. Caslavska (TCH) | F. Menichelli (ITA) |
| 1967 | V. Caslavska (TCH) | M. Voronin (URS) |
| 1969 | K. Janz (GDR) | M. Voronin (URS) |
| 1971 | L.Turischeva&T.Lazakovich(URS) | V. Klimenko (URS) |
| 1973 | L. Turischeva (URS) | V. Klimenko (URS) |
| 1975 | N. Comaneci (ROM) | N. Andrianov (URS) |
| 1977 | N. Comaneci (ROM) | V. Markelov (URS) |
| 1979 | N. Comaneci (ROM) | S. Deltchev (BUL) |
| 1981 | M. Gnauck (GDR) | A. Tkachev (URS) |
| 1983 | O. Bicherova (URS) | D. Bilozerchev (URS) |
| 1985 | E. Shushunova (URS) | D. Bilozerchev (URS) |
| 1987 | D. Silivas (ROM) | V. Lyukin (URS) |
| 1989 | S. Boginskaya (URS) | I. Korobchinsky (URS) |
| 1990 | S. Boginskaya (URS) | V. Mogilny (URS) |
| 1992 | T. Gutsu (UKR) | I. Korobchinsky (UKR) |