the.com/gymnastics
defying gravity while smiling, because the judges deduct for honesty about the pain
means The sport and physical discipline of performing precise, often acrobatic movements—flips, balances, vaults, and tumbles—demanding strength, flexibility, and control.
from From Greek 'gymnastikos,' fond of bodily exercise, rooted in 'gymnazein,' to train naked—which the ancient Greeks quite literally did, the word 'gymnos' meaning 'naked.' Their training grounds, the 'gymnasion,' was where young men exercised bare, and from that bracing tradition the modern word descends, by way of Latin 'gymnasticus,' arriving in English around the 16th century with the clothing thankfully restored.
- balance beam
- flips performed on a 4-inch-wide strip
- chalk
- magnesium carbonate, same stuff weightlifters worship
- ancient roots
- Greeks trained nude in the gymnasion
- peak age
- many elites retire before turning twenty
- the code
- a thick rulebook quantifying human perfection
simone biles — american gymnast with 7 olympic medals and 25 world championship medals, most decorated gymnast ever
nadia comaneci — romanian gymnast who scored first perfect 10 at 1976 montreal olympics, age 14