| Gymnastics at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | |
|---|---|
| Pictograms for artistic (left) and rhythmic (right)   | |
| Venue | Beijing National Indoor Stadium (artistic and trampoline) Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium (rhythmic) |
| Dates | August 9 – 19 |
At the 2008 Summer Olympics, three different gymnastics disciplines were contested: artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline. The artistic gymnastics events were held at the Beijing National Indoor Stadium on August 9–19. The rhythmic gymnastics events were held at the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium on August 21–24. The trampoline events were also held at the Beijing National Indoor Stadium on August 16–19.[1]
Competition schedule
All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8)
Artistic gymnastics
| Date | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, August 9, 2008 | 12:00 - 14:00 | Men's Qualification - Subdivision 1 |
| 16:00 - 18:00 | Men's Qualification - Subdivision 2 | |
| 20:00 - 22:00 | Men's Qualification - Subdivision 3 | |
| Sunday, August 10, 2008 | 10:00 - 11:30 | Women's Qualification - Subdivision 1 |
| 13:30 - 15:00 | Women's Qualification - Subdivision 2 | |
| 17:00 - 18:30 | Women's Qualification - Subdivision 3 | |
| 20:00 - 21:30 | Women's Qualification - Subdivision 4 | |
| Tuesday, August 12, 2008 | 10:00 - 12:30 | Men's Team Final |
| Wednesday, August 13, 2008 | 10:30 - 12:00 | Women's Team Final |
| Thursday, August 14, 2008 | 11:00 - 13:30 | Men's Individual All-Around Final |
| Friday, August 15, 2008 | 11:15 - 13:00 | Women's Individual All-Around Final |
| Sunday, August 17, 2008 | 18:00 - 18:30 | Men's Floor Exercise Final |
| 18:46 - 19:15 | Women's Vault Final | |
| 19:33 - 20:00 | Men's Pommel Horse Final | |
| 20:19 - 20:45 | Women's Floor Exercise Final | |
| Monday, August 18, 2008 | 18:00 - 18:30 | Men's Rings Final |
| 18:46 - 19:15 | Women's Uneven Bars Final | |
| 19:33 - 20:00 | Men's Vault Final | |
| Tuesday, August 19, 2008 | 18:00 - 18:30 | Men's Parallel Bars Final |
| 18:46 - 19:15 | Women's Balance Beam Final | |
| 19:33 - 20:00 | Men's Horizontal Bar Final |
Rhythmic gymnastics
| Date | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, August 21, 2008 | 18:00 - 20:30 | Individual All-Around Qualification |
| 20:30 - 21:30 | Group All-Around Qualification | |
| Friday, August 22, 2008 | 18:00 - 20:30 | Individual All-Around Qualification |
| 20:30 - 21:30 | Group All-Around Qualification | |
| Saturday, August 23, 2008 | 18:00 - 20:00 | Individual All-Around Final |
| Sunday, August 24, 2008 | 11:00 - 12:15 | Group All-Around Final |
Medal summary
Artistic gymnastics
Men's events
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual all-around | Yang Wei China | Kōhei Uchimura Japan | Benoît Caranobe France |
| Team all-around |  China (CHN)Chen Yibing Huang Xu Li Xiaopeng Xiao Qin Yang Wei Zou Kai |  Japan (JPN)Takehiro Kashima Takuya Nakase Makoto Okiguchi Koki Sakamoto Hiroyuki Tomita Kōhei Uchimura |  United States (USA)Alexander Artemev Raj Bhavsar Joseph Hagerty Jonathan Horton Justin Spring Kai Wen Tan |
| Floor exercise | Zou Kai China | Gervasio Deferr Spain | Anton Golotsutskov Russia |
| Horizontal bar | Zou Kai China | Jonathan Horton United States | Fabian Hambüchen Germany |
| Parallel bars | Li Xiaopeng China | Yoo Won-chul.svg.png){kind=small} South Korea | Anton Fokin Uzbekistan |
| Pommel horse | Xiao Qin China | Filip Ude Croatia | Louis Smith Great Britain |
| Rings | Chen Yibing China | Yang Wei China | Oleksandr Vorobiov Ukraine |
| Vault | Leszek Blanik Poland | Thomas Bouhail France | Anton Golotsutskov Russia |
Women's events
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual all-around | Nastia Liukin United States | Shawn Johnson United States | Yang Yilin China |
| Team all-around | China (CHN) Cheng Fei Deng Linlin He Kexin Jiang Yuyuan Li Shanshan Yang Yilin | United States (USA) Shawn Johnson Nastia Liukin Chellsie Memmel Samantha Peszek Alicia Sacramone Bridget Sloan |  Romania (ROU)Andreea Acatrinei Gabriela Drăgoi Andreea Grigore Sandra Izbaşa Steliana Nistor Anamaria Tămârjan |
| Vault | Hong Un Jong North Korea | Oksana Chusovitina Germany | Cheng Fei China |
| Uneven bars | He Kexin China | Nastia Liukin United States | Yang Yilin China |
| Balance beam | Shawn Johnson United States | Nastia Liukin United States | Cheng Fei China |
| Floor exercise | Sandra Izbaşa Romania | Shawn Johnson United States | Nastia Liukin United States |
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Rhythmic gymnastics
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual all-around | Yevgeniya Kanayeva Russia | Inna Zhukova.svg.png){kind=small} Belarus | Anna Bessonova Ukraine |
| Group all-around |  Russia (RUS)Margarita Aliychuk Anna Gavrilenko Tatiana Gorbunova Elena Posevina Darya Shkurihina Natalia Zueva | China (CHN) Cai Tongtong Chou Tao Lü Yuanyang Sui Jianshuang Sun Dan Zhang Shuo | .svg.png){kind=small} Belarus (BLR)Olesya Babushkina Anastasia Ivankova Ksenia Sankovich Zinaida Lunina Glafira Martinovich Alina Tumilovich |
Trampoline
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's individual | Lu Chunlong China | Jason Burnett Canada | Dong Dong China |
| Women's individual | He Wenna China | Karen Cockburn Canada | Ekaterina Khilko Uzbekistan |
Medal table
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China (CHN) | 11 | 2 | 5 | 18 |
| 2 | United States (USA) | 2 | 6 | 2 | 10 |
| 3 | Russia (RUS) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 4 | Romania (ROU) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 |  North Korea (PRK) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 Poland (POL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 7 |  Canada (CAN) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Japan (JPN) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 9 | Belarus (BLR) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 France (FRA) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
 Germany (GER) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 12 |  Croatia (CRO) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
.svg.png){kind=small} South Korea (KOR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Spain (ESP) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 15 |  Ukraine (UKR) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
 Uzbekistan (UZB) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| 17 |  Great Britain (GBR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (17 nations) | 18 | 18 | 18 | 54 | |
Qualification
Champions Gala
The traditional Gymnastics Champions Gala took place on August 20 at the National Indoor Stadium. Participants are mainly selected from the 2008 Olympic trampoline and artistic gymnastics, as well as medalists from world championships. In addition, some Chinese pop stars appeared in the Gala.
The performances included Olympic disciplines such as floor exercise, pommel horse, rings, parallel bars, horizontal bar, uneven bars, balance beam, rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline gymnastics; non-Olympic discipline such as tumbling and acrobatic; and art performances such as dancing, martial art, instrument performance and chorus.
Age controversy
On August 21, 2008 the IOC instructed the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) to investigate allegations that Chinese gymnast He Kexin was underaged and therefore ineligible to compete during the Olympic gymnastics competition.[2] The FIG requires that all gymnasts be at least 16 years of age in the Olympic calendar year.[2] The IOC had initially accepted the ages of all the Chinese participants, but newly uncovered documents suggested He was 14 years old, and thus ineligible to compete.[2]
The investigation was initiated after an American blogger reported on a cached official Excel spreadsheet showing He's birthday as January 1, 1994.[2][3] His discoveries support earlier reports from The New York Times[4] and other bloggers regarding He's age discrepancy. Earlier, several bloggers found links to news stories and photo captions from 2007 and early 2008, including stories in the state-run Xinhua news service, that cited He's age as 13.[2]
On October 1, 2008, the FIG ended their investigation and concluded that He and her teammates from the 2008 Olympic games were old enough to compete.[5] This ruling confirmed the FIG's initial conclusions. Though some media outlets have voiced doubts about the decision,[6][7][8] the gymnasts have been cleared by the FIG of any wrongdoing.
In 2014, North Korean female gymnast Cha Yong-hwa was a subject of disciplinary hearing because of false passport used to falsify her age. The FIG decided to withdraw her license and nullify all her results, including the results from 2008 Olympics.[9]
See also
- Concerns and controversies at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Gymnastics at the 2006 Asian Games
- Gymnastics at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
- Gymnastics at the 2007 Pan American Games
- 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
- Underage Gymnasts Controversy at 2008 Summer Olympics
References
- ^ "Gymnastics at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
- ^ a b c d e Hutcheon, Stephen (2008-08-22). "IOC calls for investigation into gymnast's age". smh.com.au. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
- ^ Tim Reid (2008-08-22). "International Olympic Committee launches probe into He Kexin's age". timesonline.co.uk. London. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
- ^ Macur, Juliet (2008-08-22). "I.O.C. Asks for Inquiry of Chinese Gymnasts". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
- ^ Macur, Juliet (October 1, 2008). "Ruling Backs Chinese Gymnasts". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
- ^ Brennan, Christine (October 1, 2008). "Maybe now China will quit cheating". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
- ^ Gillon, Doug (2 October 2008). "China cleared of age concerns but questions left over Sydney squad". The Herald. Archived from the original on 4 October 2008. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
- ^ Dahlberg, Tim (27 September 2008). "Wasting time looking for underage gymnasts". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
- ^ "FIG bans North Korean gymnast for age cheating".