Flip Through the Differences Between Artistic and Rhythmic Gymnastics at the Olympics

No need to jump through hoops to find out which rhythmic gymnasts made the podium at the 2024 Olympics.

Germany’s Darja Varfolomeev won the gold, Bulgaria’s Boryana Kaleyn took home the silver and Italy’s Sofia Raffaeli secured the bronze during the individual all-around final at Paris’ Porte de la Chapelle Arena on Aug. 9. Viewers will now have to wait and see which teams medal in the group all-around final on Aug. 10.

Meanwhile, some fans may be tumbling over with confusion if they thought the gymnastics events at this year’s Games were over. After all, they’d already seen Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera win gold; Stephen Nedoroscik go viral for his bronze-winning pommel horse routine; a score change that made jaw drops and many more moments will continue to stick the landing in sports lovers’ minds.

But those were artistic gymnastics events. There are actually three disciplines at the Olympics: artistic, rhythmic and trampoline.

Let’s do a quick flip through history: While gymnastics has been a part of the Olympics since the first modern Games in Athens in 1896, women weren’t allowed to compete in artistic gymnastics at the Olympics until the 1928 Games in Amsterdam. It wouldn’t be until 1984 that rhythmic gymnastics made its Olympic debut in Los Angeles, and trampoline first became an Olympic sport in 2000 at the Sydney Games.

Soooo…what exactly is the difference between artistic and rhythmic gymnastics? If you don’t want to bend over backwards looking for answers, keep reading.

What is the difference between artistic gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics?

For starters, artistic gymnastics is open to both men and women at the Olympics but, currently, only women are allowed to compete in rhythmic gymnastics at the Games.  

There’s also a difference in apparatus—a.k.a. the equipment.

“In artistic gymnastics, men and women compete on apparatus,” the Canadian Olympic Committee’s website explains, “while in rhythmic gymnastics the athletes compete with handheld apparatus.”

If this left your mind doing somersaults, here’s a breakdown: In artistic gymnastics, women compete on balance beam, vault, uneven bars and floor while men compete on rings, vault, pommel horse, horizontal bar, parallel bars and floor. As for rhythmic gymnasts, they compete with four handheld apparatuses: ribbon, hoop, ball and club.

“Until 2013, [rhythmic] gymnasts could also perform with rope,” Olympics.com reads. “However, this apparatus has been phased out, leaving just four to choose from. Whichever equipment the gymnast uses, the principle remains the same: they must keep the apparatus moving at all times, creating a flowing routine to music.”

The styles are also different.

“With roots in Ancient Greece, artistic gymnastics is as ancient as it is spectacular,” the website for the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) states, “combining speed, strength, power and flexibility with tumbling and acrobatic skills, all performed with an emphasis on style.”

As for rhythmic gymnastics, the FIG notes the sport is “heavily influenced by ballet and modern dance.”

“Flexibility and musical interpretation are important elements in a rhythmic exercise,” the organization continues. “However, it is the amount of risk a gymnast takes, often throwing the apparatus several meters into the air and losing sight of it while performing stunning leaps, turns or acrobatic maneuvers before regrasping it—often in impossible-seeming catches—that sets the routines apart.”

How are the events in artistic gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics different?

Again, this mostly comes down to apparatus.

In artistic gymnastics, there are 14 Olympic events. The women compete in four—vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise—and the men compete in six: floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bars.

Both also participate in team and all-around events. Each event involves competing on every apparatus, but there are a few differences. As the name suggests, the team event features multiple gymnasts from the same team competing together for one overall team score, while the all-around event involves one gymnast competing on each apparatus for an individual score. Only two gymnasts per participating country can compete in the all-around.

In rhythmic gymnastics, there are two events: individual all-around and group all-around.

“In the individual events, gymnasts perform four times, using each piece of apparatus once,” Olympics.com shares. “Each performance must be 75 to 90 seconds long. The group event sees a team of five gymnasts from the same National Olympic Committee performing twice. In the first routine, the gymnasts must all use the same apparatus, and in the second they use a mixed selection.”

How is the scoring different in artistic gymnastics versus rhythmic gymnastics?

Here’s a rundown of the ABCs—or rather the D’s and the E’s—of gymnastics.

In artistic gymnastics, there’s an E score for execution and a D score for difficulty.

“Each execution score starts at 10.0 points,” NBCOlympics.com explains. “The judges on the execution panel deduct points for errors, such as steps on landings, falls, flexed feet, bent knees, etc.”

“The difficulty score starts at zero, and an athlete will earn points for composition requirements, difficulty of the elements and connection value,” the outlet continues. “In women’s gymnastics, each routine receives points for the eight most difficult elements, while in men’s gymnastics, 10 are counted.”

The gymnast or team with the highest combined D and E score wins gold.

Similarly, in rhythmic gymnastics, there’s an E score for execution. The judges note if there were any errors, and the “sum of technical deductions are subtracted from 10 points,” according to the FIG handbook. There’s also a D score for difficulty. The judges look at both difficulty of body movements (like leaps, balances and rotations) and apparatus use (such as how an item was thrown, caught or handled). According to NBCOlympics.com, the highest D score is a 10.

But unlike in artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics also has an A score for artistry. According to NBCOlympics.com, “Examples of elements being evaluated are the connection between music and movement, expressiveness, use of space, contrast in tempo, character, and intensity of the movements, etc.” Again, the FIG handbook states that “the sum of the artistry deductions is subtracted from 10.0 points."

Whomever has the highest combined E, D and A score wins gold.

Who are artistic gymnasts and rhythmic gymnasts competing for Team USA?

The members of the 2024 U.S. women’s artistic gymnastic team include Simone Biles, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee and Hezly Rivera, with Joscelyn Roberson and Leanne Wong serving as traveling replacement athletes. As for the members of the men’s team, they include Asher Hong, Paul Juda, Brody Malone, Stephen Nedoroscik and Frederick Richard, with Patrick Hoopes, Yul Moldauer, Donnell Whittenburg, Shane Wiskus and Khoi Young being the replacement athletes.

Evita Griskenas and Lili Mizuno represent the U.S. in rhythmic gymnastics.

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