Have you ever seen an old rulebook for the World Championships? Well, you’re in luck. In this article, you can find the official rulebook for the 1938 World Championships in Prague, as well as a translation of the sections.
From a historian’s perspective, this rulebook is important because it is a precursor to the 1949 Code of Points, specifying deductions and including lengthy criteria for evaluating compulsory routines.
A Few Basics about the 1938 Rulebook
The Program
Compulsory Routines:
- Floor Exercise
- Pommel Horse
- Still Rings
- Long-Horse Vault
- Parallel Bars
- High Bar
Optional Routines:
- Floor Exercise
- Pommel Horse
- Still Rings
- Long-Horse Vault
- Parallel Bars
- High Bar
Track and Field:
- High Jump
- 0 points: 120 cm (3’11.24”)
- 10 points: 160 cm (5’2.99”)
- 100 m
- 0 points: 16.2 seconds
- 10 points: 12.2 seconds
- Shot put (3 attempts, 1 arm)
- 0 points: 750 cm (24’7.28”)
- 10 points: 1050 cm (34’5.39”)
Scoring
- All routines and athletics events out of 10.0
- Individual All-Around: 150 points possible
- Team Score: 900 points possible
- Team Score: Based on top 6 all-around scores
Compulsory Scoring:
0 points for non-execution,
2 points for faulty execution,
4 points for poor execution,
6 points for satisfactory execution,
8 points for good execution,
10 points for perfect execution.
Note: Compulsory routines could be repeated. The gymnast had to declare that he was going to redo his routine before his score was displayed. Regardless of how he performed the second time, the best score from his two attempts counted. So, he could perform worse during his second attempt, and it didn’t matter because his first score counted.
At the 1948 Olympics, the stakes would be raised because only the second attempt counted.
Optional Scoring:
2 points for beauty and combination of the exercise,
3 points for difficulty
in addition
1 point for satisfactory execution or
3 points for good execution or
5 points for perfect execution.
Awards
- Team competition: Top 6 teams
- Individual all-around: Top 6 individuals
- Apparatus: Top 3 gymnasts per apparatus, including floor
Note: In 1934, there weren’t awards for floor exercise, and the individual apparatus awards were for the top six — not just the top three.
Additional Tidbits:
- It was preferable that a young girl do the drawing of the lots.
- Falls could be a 2- to 3-point penalty.
- Superior judges were chosen by the drawing of lots.
- Score sheets were published for participating nations.
- Pommel horse routines were meant to be symmetrical, meaning gymnasts were supposed to circle in both directions.
- Hold positions were to be held for 3 seconds.
- Thanks to Germany’s last-minute appearance in 1934, the rules specify that countries needed to be members of the FIG for at least six months prior to the competition.
Table of Contents
Use the links to jump to a specific section:
- General Rules
- The Competition
- Apparatus Norms
- Types of Exercises
- Jury
- Order of the Competition
- Directions
- Judgment and Assessment
- Scoring
- Basics of Scoring
- Vault and Athletics Scales
- Awards
- Compuslory Exercises
If you read French or just want to see what the old rulebooks looked like, you can jump to the bottom of the page.
If not, here is a translation of all the rules. Note: The bold text is bold in the original document.
Rules
of the XI International Tournament (World Championships) of the FIG organized in Prague, June 30 – July 1, 1938
Art. 1. — Following the decision taken at the XIX International Meeting in Budapest in 1934, that of Brussels in 1935, and Berlin in 1936, the XI International Gymnastics Tournament (World Championships) will take place in Prague on June 30 and July 1, 1938, on land still to be determined.
Art. 2. — Participation in the tournament is open to all National Federations affiliated with the International Gymnastics Federation for at least six months before the date of the tournament.
Art. 3. — The competitions are done by teams, individual gymnasts are not admitted.
[Note: In 1950, that changed, and individual gymnasts were allowed to compete without full teams.]
Art. 4. — The team delegated by each affiliated nation will be made up of a minimum of 6 gymnasts and a maximum of 8. For the final result, the score of the 6 best competitors will be taken into account. The results of one or both gymnasts who obtain the least points will be eliminated. However, the results obtained by them with one or other of the apparatus are taken into consideration for the special classification for this apparatus.
Art. 5. — Each competing team is under the direction of a non-ranking trainer for the duration of the tournament. The duties of the latter are limited to leading and presenting the team to the jury, from one event to another. He will be the intermediary between the Jury and the team.
Before the execution of the exercises, he checks if the apparatus are in good condition; during the performance, he stands close to the apparatus to prevent a possible accident, but cannot help in the execution of the exercises. If a gymnast who is too short cannot reach the apparatus by jumping (high bar, rings) the trainer can lift him. Their names and qualifications are indicated on the list of names of gymnasts forming the team. His work is not scored.
Art. 6. — Registration for the tournament is done on the forms sent in due time, by the President of the F.I.G., to the delegates of the affiliated Federations.
This registration must reach the President of the Technical Committee, Mr. Alphonse Huguenin, avenue Ruchonnet, 51, Lausanne at least two months before the tournament.
At the time of the final registration, a guarantee fee of 100 French francs will be paid as a “registration fee” in the hands of the FIG treasurer, Mr. Vladimir Müller, Prague (Czechoslovakia) Švecova 1, XIX. This registration fee will be refunded to any federation that has had its registration canceled by registered letter addressed to the president of the Technical Committee, no later than 30 days before the tournament, while that of the federations taking part in the tournament or competition remains with the FIG cash box.
Art. 7. — The list of names of the gymnasts on the team will be given to the president of the jury, at the very moment when the jury will have been formed. It will mention the surnames and first names, the date of birth, and the place of origin of each gymnast; they must be over eighteen years of age, be of the nationality of the Federation which delegates them and be part of a federated society.
This list must be accompanied by:
a) A certificate of identity for each gymnast: passport, federal license, or similar document.
b) A photographic portrait of each competitor, 30 mm by 25 mm in size.
Art. 8. — Competitors cannot be professionals, that is to say, have performed in public for a fee, or have taken part in competitions, or exhibitions, with personal prizes in cash. Professors and trainers, even remunerated, are not excluded, provided that they have complied with the preceding prescriptions.
Art. 9. — The list of competitors will be finalized by the jury and the trainer (director) of each team before the start of the competitive events.
The competitors must first attend the tournament events, they can only take part in other competitions when all commitments, in this respect, have been accomplished.
The Competition.
Art. 10. — The competition runs in two parts and includes the following exercises:
- Artistic competition:
High bar (rec), one compulsory exercise and one optional.
Parallel bars, one compulsory exercise and one optional.
Rings, one compulsory exercise and one optional.
Pommel horse, one compulsory exercise and one optional.
Hands-free exercise, one compulsory exercise and one optional.
Long horse vault, one compulsory vault and one optional. - Track and field competition:
High jump with an approach over a slat.
100 m sprint.
Shot put 7¼ kg.
The duration of the competition is two days.
The artistic part is executed on the first day (except vault), that of the athletic exercises, and vault on the second.
TEMPLATE AND DIMENSIONS OF THE APPARATUS.
Art. 11. —
High bar (rec):
Polished steel bar, diameter 28/30 mm, swing height 2.40 m
Parallel bars:
Height 1.60 m, length 3 to 3.50 m, interior spread from 42 to 46 cm, oval-shaped bars
Pommel Horse:
Length 1.80 m, width 35-37 cm, the spread of the pommels 42 cm, height to the top of the pommels 1.20 m, the height of the pommels from the top of the horse, 12 cm. The pommels should be made of polished wood, with the upper horizontal part with a length of about 8 cm.
Rings:
Height of the portico 5.50 m, height of suspension 2.50 m, the interior diameter of the rings 18 cm, the thickness of the rings is 28 mm. The ropes can end with movable belts or straps to which the rings are attached. Rings of polished wood.
Vaulting horse:
Length of horse 1.80 m, height 1.30 m. The distance from the board is open.
Hard board (tremplin dur)
10 cm height in the front.
The platform for floor exercise:
The area made available is 10 x 10 m.
High Jump:
The posts are firmly fixed.
The wooden slat with a triangular section, where the length is at least 366 cm but no more than 400 cm, the sides are 30 mm.
The supports. The support on which the slat rests must be flat and quadrangular shaped, 40 mm wide and 60 mm long.
The base of the slat rests on the supports so as not to be held back in its fall, neither forward nor backward, when it is touched by the jumper.
The base of the slat rests on the supports.
Between the bases of the slat and the posts, there is a free space of 10 mm.
Shot Put:
The ball must be of iron or yellow copper, the inside of which is filled with lead.
Its weight must not be less than 7.25 kg.
The circle can be constructed either of iron or of wood.
Its diameter is 2.135 cm.
The border of the circle should be 6mm wide and 76mm high. The circle should be whitened.
The board is placed in the middle of the perimeter of the circle in its front part. It is made of wood.
The length of the board must be 1.22 m, its width 114 mm, and the height 102 mm.
The board must be whitewashed.
The ground inside the circle must be at the same level as that outside.
To be valid, all the throws, must have their point of fall in a zone of an angle of 90 degrees, which is marked beforehand.
Sprint
Four well-defined lanes, 1.22 m wide. The lines are whitened with a width of 5 cm.
The start and the finish are also marked by white lines.
Above the finish line is placed a rope. Its height is 1.22. This rope must be attached to two stakes driven into the ground on each side of the lanes.
Four competitors start simultaneously.
The time taken by each competitor is measured by three timekeepers.
Before reporting the time to the secretary, the three timekeepers must compare their results. If the results noted by two judges do not coincide with the third, the latter is not taken into account; if there is a difference between all three results, it is the average result that counts. If only two timekeepers give the time, the longer time is taken into consideration for the result.
The time must be measured from the flash of the gun.
All measurements are made in 1/10 of a second.
For the scoring of athletic exercises, see the scale.
TYPES OF EXERCISES TO BE EXECUTED ON DIVERSE APPARATUS.
a) The artistic part
Art. 12. — High Bar: Exclusively swing and release movements.
Parallel Bars: A combination of swing, strength, and release movements.
Rings: Without back-and-forth swinging of the rings [like flying rings], a combination of swing and strength movements.
Pommel horse: Combinations that work both sides, left and right, as much symmetrical work as possible.
Floor exercise: Artistic movements, lively, with poses, balances, movements, expressions of sentiment, elegance, individuality, and originality.
b) The athletic part
High jump
Each gymnast may jump the same height three times and if the three attempts are invalid, the event is over. For the score, only the last height crossed will be taken into consideration.
Each gymnast will be entitled to start the jump at a height, which he has freely chosen between a height of 1.20 m up to 1.60 m, and progress at his convenience by increments of 2 or 5 cm. The jump counts as soon as both feet have left the ground.
Running under the slat or next to the posts counts as one try.
The take-off must be made with one foot.
It is not allowed to move the posts during the contest, except the case when the jury recognizes the unfavorable place of take-off.
Dropping the slat in any way counts as one attempt, except as independent of the competitor himself.
Height is measured from the ground vertically to the lowest point above the slat.
Shot put 7.25 kg:
Each gymnast may make three attempts, the best of which is valid. The roll must, to be valid, fall within a 90° zone, which is marked beforehand.
The ball must be thrown with one arm and at the moment of the throw and the approach the hand must be above and in front of the shoulder.
Will be counted as an attempt without result, the fact of:
a) touching the top of the board or the terrain in front of the board with any part of the body.
b) Set foot on the circumference (top of the board).
c) Drop the ball while trying to throw it.
d) Leaving the circle before the ball has touched the ground and the jury has marked the imprint of the ball.
The diameter of the circle is marked by a clearly visible line, the thrower must leave the circle behind this line, after being ordered to do so by the judges. The distance will be measured from the nearest footprint marked on the ground by the ball to the center of the circle, deducting the radius.
100 m sprint:
There will be four clearly defined lanes.
The lanes are numbered in advance and a draw will determine which one the competitors of the same team will have to use.
Four competitors will start simultaneously.
The numbers, which the teams will have drawn by lot before the start of the competition, will determine the order of the race.
The race jury will consist of a starter, twelve timekeepers, a secretary, two finish judges, one of whom is the superior finish judge.
The starting signal will be given by a pistol shot.
The start will be made as follows: After the four competitors have presented themselves the starter will order: 1. Ready! 2. Attention! The pistol shot should be given approximately two seconds after the last command. If there is a false start, a second pistol shot will recall the competitors.
Before the pistol shot no competitor may cross the starting line of any part of the body whatsoever. Until the pistol shot, the body of each competitor must be calm and motionless.
Those who start before the pistol shot will be urged once by the starter, and in the second case, they will be eliminated.
The starter has the right to eliminate all competitors from the competition who intentionally seek to place themselves in front of the start line, for example sliding forward.
All competitors who, by design, push a comrade or prevent him in his race will be eliminated, as well.
Art. 13.
Jury.
Each Federation announces, as members of the jury, three people whose competence and fairness are above all suspicion. The Executive Committee establishes a permanent list of official FIG judges. Tournament judges must be chosen from this list, taking into account the needs. The names and qualifications of the judges as well as their addresses will be published, at the latest, one month before the competition.
Art. 14. — Each country is responsible for the competence and fairness of the members appointed by them to the Jury.
Each member of the Jury must solemnly undertake to evaluate only the work of gymnastics without regard to the person and the nation.
In order to arrive as much as possible at a uniform scale of evaluation, a scale of deductions is established.
The judges are assigned to the different branches and exercises of the competition by the executive committee.
Art. 15. — The members of the jury will not be entitled to any compensation for travel and subsistence expenses. The Organizing Gymnastics Federation will however examine the possibility of taking responsibility for part of these costs.
Art. 16. — The President of the FIG Technical Committee operates as president of the jury. He will convene and install the jury at the day, time, and place to be determined. The Bureau of the Technical Committee also constitutes the bureau of the Jury. It will appoint a technical director and a grounds manager, as well as stop and distribute the work. The members of the bureau of the jury, as well as the technical director and the grounds manager, cannot participate, in any capacity whatsoever, in the competition of the teams. They are at the disposal of the jury, direct the office of scoring, collaborate in the smooth running and management competitions. The International President, President and Vice President of the jury, and the technical director will form the jury of appeal in case of grievances.
Art. 17. — Two members of the Local Committee will be added to the jury to give it the information and assistance it may need.
Art. 18. — Calculators [i.e. people who do math — not handheld devices used for math] will be made available to the Jury to add up the figures on the score sheets.
Each nationality will have the right to nominate its representative in the commission of calculators.
Art. 19. — The score sheets will be provided to the jury on the model adopted by the executive committee.
Order of the Competition.
Art. 20. — The day before the tournament and competitions, the competiton order of the competing teams will be determined by drawing lots as follows: The name of each nation participating in the competition is written on a piece of paper; these papers are shuffled in a ballot box. A single person, not interested, preferably a young girl, pulls each paper separately. It is the order in which the names of the nations come out of the ballot box which determines the order of the competitors.
Art. 21. — The competition will take place in two parts: the first will include floor exercise, apparatus exercises; the second vault and so-called athletic exercises. (See art. 10.) The schedule of the events will follow the order established by the work plan. All apparatus will be occupied at the same time and the order of apparatus will remain the same for all teams.
Art. 22. — Thirty minutes before the time indicated for the start of the tournament, the bureau of the jury, the jurors and the substitute judges as well as the team leaders will be gathered at the location of the exercises to be oriented on the rotation of the teams to the different events, any intercalations, etc. The members of the jury are dedicated entirely and exclusively to the events of the competition; they can neither lead a team nor take part in exercises.
Art. 23. — Only the members of the Jury, the competitors and their technical managers (team leaders), the secretaries of the groups of jurors, the essential men for the maintenance of the apparatus and the tracks, the operators and official photographers authorized by the organizing committee and one official reporter per nation, representing the official publication of the competing nation, are admitted to the competition grounds. They will carry special cards authorizing them to do so.
Directions.
Art. 24. — A competitor leaving his team without permission of the jury may not be readmitted.
Art. 25. — It is not permissible to substitute one gymnast for another during competition.
Art. 26. — Every illness and every accident must be reported at once by the leader and must be certified by the physician in charge.
A team may interrupt competition for a maximum period of 30 minutes in order to allow a gymnast to recover. If after this period the gymnast affected is still unable to continue, she is eliminated from the competition, and the team continues the exercises, and the gymnast is eliminated.
Art. 27. — The gymnasts must follow the directions of the jury.
Art. 28. — On apparatus and floor exercise, any gymnast may restart a compulsory exercise that he judges to have missed; he must declare it to the jury immediately after having interrupted or finished the exercise and before the judges have finished their scoring. Best execution is valid. Repetition of the mandatory and optional vault is authorized under the same conditions.
The compulsory exercises on the high bar (rec) and on the parallel bars can be performed inversely either in whole or in part.
The compulsory exercise on pommel horse can also be executed in reverse, but only in full.
The choice of optional vault is completely free. A scale of difficulties for these vaults appears in the rules (page 19).
Art. 29. — Any complaint regarding the participation of a gymnast must be made at the start of the contest or as soon as the cause arises.
Art. 30. — Competition attire must be uniform for all gymnasts of a team. Members of the same team will wear a common distinctive sign. This outfit cannot be changed during apparatus work including vault. The gymnasts particular cannot take off their shoes, they will wear shoes with soft soles without heels. For athletic events and for floor exercises, the outfit can be changed while remaining uniform. Spikes are permitted for athletic events. As a measure of fairness, white work clothes are recommended.
Competing teams are free to bring their apparatus and install them at their own expense and risk on the site designated by the Organizing Committee. The essential dimensions of these apparatus must comply with the provisions of these regulations and will be checked by the bureau of the jury. They are available to competitors who want them.
Art. 31. — All the exercises will be performed successively by the gymnasts of the same team and not simultaneously by several at the same time.
Optional exercises differ essentially from compulsory exercises. Except for vault, the optional exercises of a team must differ from gymnast to gymnast.
Judgment and Assessment.
Art. 32. — For each artistic event, the scoring is done by appreciation. Each exercise will be judged by three judges, where one acts as the superior judge.
For each group of judges, the superior judge will be the one chosen by the drawing of lots in the jury meeting.
Each nationality can only have one superior judge. The nationality of which a superior judge has been chosen by lot will be excluded from the rest of the draw. The three judges give their scores without consulting each other.
The score is determined by the average of the three scores.
A secretary is assigned to each group of jurors.
If the difference between two scores is greater than one point, the superior judge of this group will intervene to reestablish agreement. In the event of a difference, the secretary immediately reports it to the president of the jury, who will intervene to reestablish agreement and who will decide the question without appeal, if the desired agreement cannot be obtained.
Art. 33. — In the scoring of compulsory exercises (apparatus and vault), the execution alone is taken into account. The exercises being the same for all the competitors, the difficulty and the combination do not have to be scored. They are judged on accuracy, elegance and sureness of execution. To these factors are added, for the optional exercises, the combination and the difficulty. Combinations with excessive repetitions or extremely difficult exercises that the gymnast performs only with trouble or incompletely will be scored severely. The gymnast must be able to control and move his body with elegance and sureness throughout the duration of the exercise. To determine the score, one can imagine what the exercise would be worth if it were executed without fault, then starting from this score take into account the deductions.
Art. 34. — For the scoring of floor exercise, beautiful and continuous presentations will first be taken into account; the duration of the execution must not be greater than two minutes. Longer combinations may result in deductions.
Art. 35. — Optional exercises on apparatus (except vault) or floor exercise can only be repeated if the execution has been disturbed by a cause completely independent of the gymnast himself.
Art. 36. — In order to arrive, as much as possible, at a uniform scale of appreciation, the jury will be convened before the competition for judgment tests. On this occasion, there will be a demonstration of the compulsory exercises. In this session, the following will take part: the bureau of the jury, all the judges, the secretaries of the groups of judges, and the team leaders. For these demonstrations, the gymnasts will be provided by the organizing committee. Those of other nations can participate.
This meeting will take place on June 29, 1938, the same day as the meeting of the Jury. These meetings will be scheduled between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., notices will be sent in due course.
Scoring.
Art. 37. — All the exercises, without distinction those judged by appreciation as those judged by measurement, are evaluated from 0 to 10 points and by division into tenths of a point.
Art. 38. — The jury must state aloud the points awarded to each routine. The number of points obtained must be published.
A copy of the score sheet is given to the director of each team.
Art. 39. — The verdict of the jury is final and without appeal. The documents will be delivered after the proclamation to the president of the Organizing Committee who will publish them.
Art. 40. — It will be granted: For gymnastic exercises:
a) For each of the compulsory exercises:
0 points for non-execution,
2 points for faulty execution,
4 points for poor execution,
6 points for satisfactory execution,
8 points for good execution,
10 points for perfect execution.
b) For each optional exercise:
2 points for beauty and combination of the exercise,
3 points for difficulty
in addition
1 point for satisfactory execution or
3 points for good execution or
5 points for perfect execution.
The maximum number of points that a team can obtain is therefore as follows:
Exercises on floor, on apparatus, and long-horse vaults:
a) compulsory exercise: 10 points x 6 [events] = 60 points
b) optional exercise: 10 points x 6 [events] = 60 points
Total for exercises on floor, four apparatus, and vault: 120 points x 6 gymnastes = 720 points
For the track and field events:
3 events x 10 points x 6 gymnasts = 180
Total: 900 points.
i.e. 150 points per gymnast.
Art. 41. —
The Basics of Scoring.
Compulsory Routines.
a) Division of the combination. Each exercise is divided into several parts including the essential movements and the complementary or linking movements.
b) Perfect execution. Perfect execution will be awarded the maximum partial or total score.
c) Faulty execution. For the faulty execution from the point of view of the posture and elegance of the performing gymnast, the judge will reduce the score by a certain number of tenths according to the importance of the fault or faults committed.
d) Interruption. The interruption of the sequence of movements, stops not prescribed, results in a deduction equal to the value assigned to the preceding movement and the following movement according to the influence that this interruption will have had on the character (reduction of difficulty) of the exercice.
These deductions are made in tenths of points.
The loss of points may go, depending on the seriousness of the case, up to half of the points assigned to the movement which precedes the interruption and to that which follows it.
e) Movements not executed. If a competitor does not execute a prescribed movement, he first loses the value assigned to this movement; then it is necessary to consider an additional loss that corresponds to the reduction in the effort required for the continuation of the exercise.
f) Added movements. If a competitor adds one or more unforeseen movements, he will first suffer a penalty corresponding to the magnitude of the fault. In addition, it will be examined whether, by adding these movements, it has facilitated the execution of the prescribed movements, and, depending on the seriousness of the case, the loss of points may go up to half of the points allocated to the movement which precedes the fault. and to the one immediately following.
g) Change of a movement. If a movement of suppleness is executed by using strength or vice versa the gymnast loses 1/4 up to 3/4 of the points assigned to this movement.
h) Exercise not completed. For any exercise not completed, the gymnast loses all of the partial scores corresponding to the movements not performed will of course be taken into consideration for the determination of the score. In addition, the final score will be reduced by two points.
The gymnast, who completely releases the apparatus by touching the ground, will not be able to resume the continuation of the exercise.
i) Stops. The duration of the prescribed stops during or after the strength exercises is always the length of six marching beats (that is to say, about 3 seconds). Stops shorter than the prescribed time will be penalized by 1/4 to 3/4 of the points assigned to this hold.
j) Traveling on pommel horse. Traveling of one or both legs on the pommel horse must be continuous and executed with straight legs. Touching the horse lightly (by brushing) with the feet or legs results in the loss of 1/10 of a point. If the fault is more serious, so as to constitute an interruption of the movement, the penalty may go up to 3/10.
A fall on the horse causing the loss of support (seat) is penalized by ½ or one point depending on the extent of the fault.
If the gymnast touches the ground with one or both feet, without letting go (let go of the apparatus “completely” according to letter h above), he may continue the exercise, but the fault is penalized by 2 or 3 points (or even more).
k) Traveling on the parallel bars. Traveling the legs on the parallel bars executed by sliding any part of one or more legs on the bar or bars results in a penalty of 1 to 3/10 of points.
If on the bars the gymnast touches the ground with both feet without releasing his hands, he loses 1 to 2 points, depending on the seriousness of the case. Touching the ground lightly or momentarily (e.g. brushing the ground during the forward swing executed while hanging) is only a minor fault to be penalized by one or more 10ths of a point.
Optional Exercises.
Art. 42. — For optional exercises, the scoring of the performance is done in a manner analogous to that of compulsory exercises.
The repetition of an optional exercise (except vaults) is forbidden.
For difficulty and combination, the provisions of articles 12, 31, 33, and 34 are supplemented by the following articles:
The element of assessment constituted by the “combination” and the “difficulty” has an importance that is equivalent to that of the correct and elegant execution (see 40 a).
Art. 43. — According to art. 12 the work on pommel horse must be as symmetrical as possible. Therefore, without prejudice to the “difficulty” rating as such, the exercise which noticeably approaches symmetry will be considered at this point as perfect. The loss of points for an entirely unilateral exercise can range from 5/10 up to 1 ½ points.
Art. 44. — In the case where the gymnast performs an optional exercise, in which there are several important parts of the compulsory exercise, the gymnast will be penalized from 1 to 2 points.
Art. 45 —
Vaulting Horse.
The vaulting horse, placed lengthwise, is divided into 9 zones:
4 on the croup side, one in the middle (saddle), 4 on the neck side.
The vaults are done by placing the hands on the neck, or on the saddle, or on the croup.
Scale.
Art. 46 —
- Vaulting horse scale
A. Vaults with laying hands on the neck:
Vault straight body, legs spread sideways [straddle], placing the hands on the neck … 7 points
Vault over the neck, legs bent and together… 7.50 points
Vault, straight body, legs bent backwards… 8 points
Vault, straight body, crossing the legs, landing facing right or left… 8.50 points
Vault, straight body, crossing the legs, landing facing backwards… 9 points
Handspring… 10 points
Vault, straight body, legs stretched and joined [Hecht]… 10 points
B. Vaults with hands on the saddle:
Dorsal vault from left to right (or from right to left)… 7 points
Vault to handstand, followed by ¼ turn to the right (or to the left) over the right arm (l.), placing the left hand (r.) on the neck and turning sideways to the left (right), landing sideways in front of the neck… 9 points
Vault to handstand with a ¼ turn in flight to the left or right (sideways handstand) and turn laterally to land sideways in front of the neck… 10 points
C. Vaults with hands on the croup:
Vault, straight body, straight legs sideways [straddle]… 8.50 points
Vault with legs together and bent forward… 8.50 points
Vault, legs straight and crossed facing left (or right)… 9 points
Vault, legs straight and crossed and ½ turn, landing backwards, facing the horse, arms sideways… 9.50 points
Vault, straight body, legs together and bent backwards, arms sideways… 10 points
Vault, straight body, legs together and stretched forward… 10 points
Vault, legs straight and crossed and ½ turn backward and ½ turn forward, landing transversely, back to horse, arms sideways… 10 points
The gymnast does not need to announce the vault he intends to do. When he places his hands on the saddle while executing a vault which is provided for in the official scale with a placement on one of the extremities, the Jury will thereby deduct 3 points from the maximum points allotted by the scale.
Vaults not provided for in the scale will be scored by the jury based on the principles of this scale.
B. Scale of Athletics Exercises
Placements and Awards.
Art. 47. — The classifications will be as follows:
By team, by adding up the points obtained by the team over the entire competition.
Individually, by adding up the points obtained by the gymnast over the entire competition.
Individually by adding up the points obtained by the gymnast on the same apparatus:
- Horizontal bar.
- Parallel bars.
- Rings.
- Pommel horse.
- Vault.
- Floor exercise.
The winning team will receive for its Federation a crown with gold-fringed rubans and a large gold medal and diploma. Each member of the team, including the technical director, a small gold medal and diploma.
The second, a crown with gold-fringed rubans and a large silver medal and diploma. Each member of the team, including the technical director, a small silver medal and diploma.
The third, a crown with gold-fringed rubans and a large bronze medal and a diploma. Each member of the team, including the technical director, a small bronze medal and diploma.
The three following teams, 4th, 5th, 6th ranks will receive a diploma and a bronze medal.
The gymnast with the highest number of points over the entire round will receive a crown with gold-fringed rubans and a gold medal and diploma.
The second will receive a crown with gold-fringed rubans and a silver medal and a diploma.
The third will receive a crown with gold-fringed rubans and a bronze medal and a diploma.
The next three gymnasts, 4th, 5th, 6th rank will receive a diploma and a bronze medal.
The first on each apparatus, vault, and floor exercise, receives a gold medal and a diploma.
The second, a silver medal and a diploma.
The third, a bronze medal and a diploma.
Objects of art can accompany these distinctions.
All teams and individual competitors will receive the list of winners.
The Organizing Committee reserves the right to award special items to the winners of the world championship and to the champions of each category.
The proclamation of the results and the distribution of the awards is a solemn ceremony that takes place in the presence of all the gymnasts, the delegates of the nations, the members of the jury, the members of the Organizing Committee, and the audience.
General Provisions.
Art. 48. — In all cases not provided for in these regulations, the technical regulations of the F.I.G. are authoritative, and the executive committee will decide without appeal.
Art. 49. — Modifications to this rulebook can be decided by the meeting of the delegates with a majority of ⅔.
Compulsory Routines.
[Note: The rulebook includes the text and drawings for the compulsory routines. The supplement with the drawings is 30 inches long, making it virtually impossible to put on a website. To see the drawings of the compulsory routines, download the PDF of the rulebook.]