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| Sunday, 10 July 2005 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Gymnastics - a cool sport
Gymnastics is a unique sport that combines more than a dozen individual events and pieces of "apparatus". It's also one of the only sports that lets athletes compete as individuals and as part of a team. When a gymnast is performing solo, it's a time to shine as an individual; to do his or her best to earn top marks on the vault, the rings, the high bar, and so on. But in the team event, each athlete's scores are added to those of his or her teammates. So doing well is the result of a group effort. Each apparatus requires slightly different abilities and strengths, but taken as a whole, successful gymnasts have tremendous body strength, strong discipline, great balance and grace, self-confidence, and a positive attitude. Athletes can choose to specialise in one apparatus, or to train for all of them and compete in the all-around competition. Gymnastics is a sport involving the performance of sequences of movements requiring physical strength, flexibility, and keen aesthetic awareness. It developed from fitness exercises used by ancient Greek soldiers, including skills for mounting and dismounting a horse, and circus performance skills. Modern gymnastics, as regulated by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastic incorporates six distinct disciplines: Artistic gymnastics (further classified as men's and women's artistic gymnastics, or MAG and WAG),Rhythmic gymnastics, Sports aerobics, Sports acrobatics and Trampolining.
It involves the performance of five separate routines with the use of five props (ball, ribbon, hoop, clubs, rope) on a floor area, with a much greater emphasis on the aesthetic, rather than the acrobatic. Sports aerobics involves the performance of routines by individuals or pairs, emphasising strength, flexibility, and aerobic fitness rather than acrobatic or balance skills. Trampolining routines involve a build-up phase during which the gymnast jumps repeatedly to achieve height, followed by a sequence of leaps without pauses, during which the gymnast performs a sequence of aerial tumbling skills. If you are interested in gymnastics, it's best to start young. |
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| Politics | Produced by Lake House |
Imagine you're hanging in mid air from a set of wooden rings. Next,
you're flying above the ground, headed for a big padded obstacle. Then
suddenly, you're sandwiched between two wooden poles, dangling with your
feet off the floor. This is what you would experience if you're involved
in the cool sport known as gymnastics! 
Of these disciplines, the two sub-disciplines of artistic and rhythmic
gymnastics are the best known, having been part of Summer Olympic Games
competitions. Trampoline was also recently included in the Summer
Olympics.Only women compete in the discipline of rhythmic gymnastics. 
