2024 Paris Olympics

Gymnastics at the Olympics: how does scoring work, how many rotations are there, and more

After the team events conclude on Tuesday in Paris, all-around and individual events will begin on Wednesday

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Though there are gymnastics events through out the year including World Championships and other competitions, many people only watch it during the Olympics.

If you're not familiar with the scoring or rotations of gymnastics, we put together a quick primer.

How does scoring work for men's and women's gymnastics?

Gymnasts are scored by two panels on the content and execution of their routine.

Perfect total scores no longer come to a value of 10, though gymnasts can get a perfect 10 for execution. Scores typically fall in the 14- to 16-point range.

Total scores are based on the total of the difficulty score and execution score combined, minus any deductions. The difficulty panel decides the "D-score" while the execution panel starts at 10.0 and deducts points based on how the routine went. The execution score is the "e-score."

So it's the D-score plus the E-score minus Deductions to get the total score.

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Deductions or penalties can occur if a gymnast goes out of bounds. Gymnasts can lose anywhere from 0.1 points for something small that happened during the routine to 1.0 point for a fall.

The difficulty score is based on "difficulty, connection value and element requirements" and the execution score, which includes "execution, artistry, composition and technique," according to our partners at NBC Olympics.

The official rule book is the FIG Code of Points.

How many rotations are there in the team finals?

There are four total rotations in the gymnastics team final.

The competition will include the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise.

That's two less rotations than the men's gymnastics team event, which has six rotations. The men compete in floor exercise, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars, and high bar.

The order is part of the official international rules.

How many different Olympic events are there for gymnastics?

The different Olympic events for gymnastics for both men and women include: qualification, team finals, all-around finals and the event finals.

Every gymnast competes in qualification.

How old do gymnasts need to be to compete in the Olympics?

According to Olympics rules, male gymnasts must have been born before December 31, 2006, or 17 years and 17 months old.

Women gymnasts must have been born before December 31, 2008, or 15 years and 15 months old, to compete at the Paris Olympics.

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