The 1968 Code of Points was to be ready by May 1, 1968. Opening ceremonies for the 1968 Olympics were set for October 12, 1968. That’s not a lot of time to read the Code and adjust routines.
Thankfully, compared to the men’s Code, the women’s Code was much shorter. Let’s take a look at some of the most salient parts.
The 1968 men’s Code of Points exploded.
Gymnastics was quickly evolving, and the Men’s Technical Committee was trying to be more prescriptive on what they wanted to see and in which direction they wanted the sport to go.
I’ll do my best to give you the CliffsNotes version of a 194-page document.
Gym nerds have heard of a magical 12-page Code of Points. But few have seen it.
Well, good news: We, the gymternet, now have the very first Code of Points in our possession thanks to Kathi-Sue Rupp and Hardy Fink.
So, with no further ado, here’s the very first men’s Code of Points.
By the way, if you’re looking for the very first women’s Code of Points, you can find it here.
A quick recap: At the 1964 Olympics, Endo Yukio won the all-around competition after a questionable pommel horse routine. He had 3 major breaks during his routine. Yet, he received a 9.10, and gymnastics fans were outraged about the overscoring.
Leading up to the Tokyo Olympics, the FIG republished its Code of Points. You can download the entire 1964 Code of Points at the bottom of this post.
Here are a few of the highlights.
A quick recap: The event finals in Prague were delayed 30 minutes because the crowd protested Cerar’s score. They thought that Cerar of Yugoslavia should have scored higher than Shakhlin of the Soviet Union.
After a long conference, the judges raised Cerar’s score from a 9.8 to a 9.9, giving him the gold medal in the event.
Here’s a letter to the editor of the Modern Gymnast in response. It’s the one called “Subjective” at the bottom of the first column. (The letter about the judging “computer” is also fun.)