How To Watch Gymnastics
January, 1982
On floor exercise, there is a mat 12 meters square and one and a quarter inches thick on which the gymnast, within a strict time limit of 50--70 seconds, is supposed to choreograph a combination of multiple somersaults, flips, tumbles and jumps that displays his strength, balance, technique, control and flexibility in several passes across the mat. This is the only event with no apparatus. Says Kurt Thomas: "You've got nothing to hold on to but air."Pommel horse is the least exciting y...
