A bluffer’s guide to artistic gymnastics: Vault
Artistic gymnastics always creates a buzz at any Olympic Games, so if you’re a newbie and want to know what’s what, check out Tokyo 2020's new weekly series, which delves into each event. First up, vault.
Artistic Gymnastics
A lung-bursting sprint down a 25m runway, explosive power on and off a platform, somersaulting stratospherically high, then boom, an abrupt, controlled landing accompanied by a facial expression that reads, ‘That was so easy’. Welcome to artistic gymnastics' quickest piece of apparatus, the vault.
What judges are looking for in this event, which is competed by both men and women, is something akin to McKayla Maroney’s vault in the women’s team final at London 2012. Height, form and a perfect landing. Boom.
How vault works
Both men and women compete on vault, although the platform is slightly higher for the male gymnasts (1.35m) than for female gymnasts (1.25m).
Due to its brevity, the vault is known as the apparatus where gymnasts can score big towards collective scores – the longer the routine, the more room for errors – so look out for teams, or individuals in the all-around competition, leaping up the table following this piece.
To win medals at top international level, gymnasts need to score in the high 14's and into the 15's. Occasional 16's wow fans, such as Maroney’s vault above, which scored 16.233.
Scores on all apparatus, including vault, are made up of an execution score (the E score) and the difficulty score (the D score). Both marks are shown to viewers, so for fans of the old-school perfect 10 scoring system, check out the E score. This starts at 10 and marks are removed by judges for loss of form such as toes that are not pointed or a fall from the apparatus. Maroney’s E score in the vault above was 9.733.
The D score is the total marks calculated by judges from the value given to each move performed by the gymnast via a Code of Points, which is renewed every Olympic cycle. Each vault is given a difficulty score, so the extremely popular double twisting Yurchenko, for example, is worth a 5.4. so the maximum a gymnast can achieve with this vault is 15.4.
What to expect in the vault apparatus final
Those competing in the final, perform two styles of vault, in order to showcase different skills. One vault must have a forward entry onto the platform, the other, a backward entry (shown in the pictures below with forward entry first). The average of both scores gives the result; so there's no point smashing the first vault, and making a mistake on the second.
Any apparatus final tends to be a free-for-all in terms of those winning medals, so expect emotional moments from unexpected winners. Many of the top gymnasts will have already competed over three days in the qualifiers, the team event, and individual all-around competitions, so start to get weary by the latter stages of the nine-day event.
This is when the apparatus specialists step up, those who focus on one or two events only. Some gymnasts have literally just qualified for Tokyo 2020 for one piece of apparatus, via various events and World Cups leading up to the Games. Their country may not have even have qualified a team. So for them, it’s all or nothing in the qualifiers, 30 seconds of exertion to try and make the top eight. If they make a mistake, that’s it, Games over.
What to look out for in men's vault
Want an example of the ‘that was so easy’ expression mentioned earlier? Nikita Nagorny’s your man. The Russian Olympic Committee gymnast, also a favourite for the all-around title, performs two of the most difficult vaults in the world. A double front half if you’re interested, also called a Dragulescu after the gymnast who first performed it (see below), and the Yurchenko double pike (see the video of Simone Biles below). But it’s the way Nagorny walks away from the vault with absolute nonchalance that makes fans smile.
Marian Dragulescu is set to compete in his fifth Olympic Games this summer and he’s after just one thing – Olympic gold. The Romanian, who turned 40 in December, will become the oldest male gymnast since Japan’s TAKEMOTO Masao at Rome 1960 to compete at an Olympic Games. The father of one – 12-year-old Richard is also a gymnast – has retired a number of times during his 20-year career, including after Athens 2004 when he won his three Olympic medals so far – one silver and two bronze. But the elusive Olympic gold enticed him back to the gym and it is the supremely difficult vault named after him, the Dragulescu, favoured by many gymnasts in the vault final, that he hopes will help him achieve his goal. But will anyone out Dragulescu, Dragulescu?
What to look out for in women's vault
Simone Biles posted a video in February 2020, which blew the gymnastics community away. In it Biles performed a difficult vault that not even many men do – the Yurchenko double pike mentioned above. A teaser comment, saying “2020?” – suggested she might perform it at Tokyo 2020. The video shows Biles showcasing the vault into a practice area filled with foam, but with the delay of the Games, Biles has had even more time to perfect the vault, so will she compete it?
Oksana Chusovitina who will turn 46 just before the Games, is another fan favourite. A vault specialist, Chuso, as the fans call her, has competed for the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan, and Germany during her illustrious career. The mother of one only just squeaked into a qualification spot for Tokyo 2020, to sighs of relief from the global gymnastics community. This will be Chuso’s eighth Olympic Games – she previously won gold in the team event with Uzbekistan at Barcelona 1992 and silver in the vault final at Beijing 2008. Her 22-year-old son Alisher, who recovered from acute lymphocytic leukemia as a child, is older than many of Chuso’s competitors. Expect an announcement from Chusovitina saying she’ll retire after Tokyo and then look forward to seeing her at Paris 2024… hopefully.
Next up in the weekly bluffer's guide to artistic gymnastics series, is rings, published Tuesday 25 May.