In 1979, there was finally a vague sense of harmony between the men’s and women’s Codes of Points. Both the Women’s and Men’s Technical Committees emphasized risk, originality, and virtuosity, and both used four difficulty categories: A, B, C, and CR (for extra-risky skills).
While this was a major change for the Women’s Code of Points, the 1979 Men’s Code of Points was quite similar to the 1975 Men’s Code of Points. Let’s take a quick look at it.
Scoring the Same as 1975
- Like in 1975, risk, originality, and virtuosity (ROV) were applicable to all competitions (not just finals).
- ROV was set at a uniform number: 0.60 points.
- Here’s how the scoring was broken down:
- Starting Score: 9.40 points
- Difficulty: 3.40
- Combination: 1.60
- Execution: 4.40
- ROV: 0.60 points
- Starting Score: 9.40 points
But there was a change…
The Introduction of CR
- In 1979, risk was codified; certain skills were earmarked as risky C-level skills (CR).
- That said, there was still some wiggle room for subjectivity in the evaluation of risk. For example, risk was reserved for “exercise parts, well known, but executed by only a few gymnasts.” How many gymnasts are “a few gymnasts?”
Examples of CR skills:
- A double layout on floor
- A Magyar spindle on pommel horse
- A double layout off rings
- A salto forward to forward swing in upper-arm hang on parallel bars
- A Deltchev on high bar
My thought bubble: We can see that three difficulty levels (A, B, and C) were no longer enough; the sport now needed a fourth difficulty level (CR).
Major Changes on Vault
- The vaults are divided into A, B, and C vaults.
- A vaults start at 9 points
- B vaults start at 9.40
- C vaults start at 9.80
- Bonus points for virtuosity: 0.20.
- The hand-support zones were eliminated from optional vaults. In other words, no more vaults from the croup or the neck.
Download
You can download the 1979 Code of Points for men’s artistic gymnastics here below. Happy reading!
More on the Code of Points