Gymnastics photo guide

Gymnastics is a complex sport all about mastering a variety of disciplines. BBC Sport commentator Mitch Fenner explains the dos and don'ts, and where gold can be won and lost.

As its name would suggest, this is all about balance. Those who do it well make it look so miraculously easy but, when it goes wrong, it goes horribly wrong.

The floor routine for men and women differs greatly. For the men, it's all about strength and balance. For the women, it is all about confidence and choreography.

This is how to do it when it comes to the horizontal bar - this gymnast boasts confident contact with the bar, and his arms and his legs are perfectly aligned for this move.

...but you cannot lose your concentration at any time. If you do - even by the narrowest of margins, you can fail to make contact and take a tumble. That's a 0.8-point deduction.

These two are going for the same move - at slightly different stages - but you can see one is cleaner than the other. It doesn't take a gymnastics expert to work out which is which.

This is a cracking discipline but the difference between a perfect display and a howler is miniscule. Here the discipline is being mastered superbly. Concentration is as key as strength.

If your hands are out of position by even a millimetre, it can go horribly wrong. Once a mistake is made it's almost impossible to get that back on the pommel horse.

The gymnast above is performing a sitting cross, which shows what the rings are all about. The level and balance are pefect. You must avoid making it look like a strain, which it is.

You need to keep your momentum throughout this apparatus. Poise and concentration are the key factors... as is holding onto the bar. Medal prospects can rapidly vanish.

There are three main parts to the vault: the approach, the take-off and the landing. You need to emulate a track athlete on the run and perform a huge push in take-off.

If you don't, you find yourself out of position and a competitor automatically loses 0.8 points for hitting the mat, which in the tight scoring of gymnastics means game over.

The difference between coming away with gold, silver and bronze can be absolutely minimal during the course of a full gymnastics competition.