Beginner: Women's Artistic Events--Vault

Although the 2010 gymnastics season officially began at the start of this month, the first elite event (the Winter Cup Challenge for junior and senior men) isn't until February 4th. Therefore, I will spend the time in between by going over all of the events in WAG in detail. We'll go in Olympic order (vault, bars, beam, floor), so of course we start with vault.

Vault is one of the two events that WAG and MAG have in common, with a few differences. Along with floor, it is also considered a "power" event that is best suited for gymnasts with lots of physical strength.

History of the Vault

Like all of the events, vault has evolved over time. It began with an apparatus that resembled the men's pommel horse, minus the handles on top:

Jokiel Dorota of Poland vaulting at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia

It was mostly known as the "vaulting horse." Vaults were pretty simple (only a basic handspring with maybe a twist thrown in) until the late 70's or so, when many innovations were made.

However, these new bigger acrobatics have caused some problems. Because the gymnast is running at full speed towards a hard, immovable object, if she makes a single mistake it can be catastrophic. Such examples include Julissa Gomez, whose foot slipped off the springboard and caused her head to hit the horse at high speed. She fell into a coma and died of an infection three years later.

The final straw for the vaulting horse came during the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, in the All-Around for the women. The vault was set 5 centimeters too low, not much, but enough to throw off the split-second timing needed for the world-class vaults being performed. Nearly all of the gymnasts fell or had shaky landings, but no one figured it out until later. The mistake was corrected, but everyone knew that had the gymnasts not compensated for the difference, they could have been seriously hurt or killed.

Following the Games, the FIG re-evaluated the apparatus and came up with a brand-new one, now called the vaulting "table." It was traditionally used for practice to give the gymnast a greater margin of error in hand placement, but now it is the only type of vault apparatus allowed in competition. It has a greater surface area than the horse and is more padded, with a unique curved shape:

A gymnast vaulting using the vault table at the 2005 American Cup

The first major international meet to use the table was the 2001 World Championships.

Types of Vaults

When choosing the vault he or she wants to perform, there is no excuse for a gymnast not to be original. They can combine different types of entries (the point in the vault where the gymnast has bounced off of the springboard but hasn't yet touched the apparatus, also called "pre-flight"), body positions, twists, and saltos to create a dizzying array of options. All vaults, however, fall into one of the following categories:

Vaults Without Saltos -- As the name suggests, no somersaults in the air for these types of vaults. A jump (twisting during entry is also optional) onto the horse/table and then the body stays straight. Any number of twists can be added for variety.

Handspring Vaults -- In order to be in this category, the vault must have no twists on entry; just a simple straight jump. However, anything can be done after that.

Tsukahara Vaults -- Created by a male Japanese gymnast, these vaults have a distinctive half-twist during the pre-flight.

Yurchenko Vaults -- Created by Natalia Yurchenko (who else?) of the USSR, this vault is a favorite because of how elegant it looks. The gymnast leans into a round-off just before the springboard and pushes off of it facing away from the table, coming into contact with it backwards and then pushing off. Yurchenkos are hard to describe until you see them for yourselves, so check out this superb vault with 1.5 twists performed by Nastia Liukin at the 2008 Olympic All-Around:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTbPH3nYqXs

It also shows the vault (including the entry) in slow-motion so you can see what I'm describing above. Yurchenko vaults can also be performed with a half or full twist in the pre-flight and still be considered Yurchenkos (they are simply called a Yurchenko half-on or full-on; they are not in a separate group).

The current trend in the vault is a double-twisting Yurchenko (often abbreviated as a DTY), which is a "safe" vault for the gymnast who isn't so great at this event but still fulfills difficulty requirements. Add another half twist and you get the 2.5 Yurchenko, aka the "Amanar" vault (for Simona Amanar, the first gymnast to perform it). It's a very difficult vault and seems to be the benchmark in difficulty for telling if a gymnast is "good" at the vault.

There are a couple of differences for women and men regarding this event:

1. Men must perform two vaults no matter what, while women must do two only if they wish to qualify for the event finals in the apparatus.

2. If a female gymnast "balks" or stops running before touching the vault, she is allowed 30 seconds to return to the end of the runway and try again without penalty. Whereas if a male gymnast balked, the vault would be deemed void and given a score of 0.

Things to Look for in a Strong Vault:

-Strong push off of the springboard and horse/table

-Legs together in the air, toes pointed

-If a vault involving twists, no crossed ankles

-Clears the apparatus with room to spare (plenty of height)

-Shows control

-Stuck landing (no steps or hops)

-Lands within the boundaries specified on the landing mat or as close to the center of said mat as possible

Strong Vaulters By Country, Past and Present:

Alicia Sacramone (USA)

Cheng Fei (CHN)

Yelena Shushunova (USSR)

Henrietta Onodi (HUN)

There are, of course, many others, but these are just a few examples.

So, I hope you have a better idea of the vault as an event!