IG07 Sports

Gymnastics has not been selected as one of the 14 sports featuring in the 2007 Rhodes Island Games.

History of the Sport

One of the most ancient sports, with evidence of it from more than 5000 years ago, but as an competitive sport it has only been around for 100 years.

In 3000 BC, Egyptians built human pyramids for fun and in 2000 BC the Chinese invented their own version of gymnastics called Cong Fu. Then in 776 BC the Greeks began holding the first gymnastic tournaments with tumbling and rope climbing.

The first large-scale Olympics competition was later held in Athens, Greece in 1896 with five countries participating in the event. During 1924, Olympics in France marked the beginning of what they are today.

In gymnastics, men started to compete for individual Olympic titles in each gymnastic event. The first women's gymnastic team debuted during the 1928 Olympics. This was the team combined exercise, which was dominated by the Netherlands.

Shetland 2005

Guernsey gymnasts didn't compete in the 2005 Games in Shetland.

Although there was plenty of local support and interest in the sport the lack of permanent facilities meant Guernsey couldn't field a team.