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Artistic Gymnastics

A perfect fusion of athletics and aesthetics, gymnastics ranks among the defining sports of the Olympic Games. Mixing strength and agility with style and grace, the high-flying acrobats have provided many of the most breathtaking Olympic spectacles of the past quarter-century.

adia Comeneci's perfect 10 score at the 1976 Montreal Games, the first ever awarded, remains the high-water mark for most gymnastics fans. The 14-year-old Romanian achieved the seemingly impossible seven times in Montreal, a feat so unexpected that the scoring technology was set up for only three digits. Her 10.00s were displayed as 1.00.

Gymnastics has a long, proud history. The sport can be traced back to ancient Greece, where such skills featured in the ancient Olympic Games. Ancient Rome, Persia, India and China practised similar disciplines, mostly aimed at preparing young men for battle. The word itself derives from the Greek word gymnos, meaning naked - dress requirements for athletes in those days were minimal, to say the least.

Competition: In artistic events (performed on an apparatus), men compete in floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bars. Female gymnasts compete on the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor. The competition includes all-round events and team events, also scored over each apparatus.

Trampoline

A perfect fusion of athletics and aesthetics, gymnastics ranks among the defining sports of the Olympic Games.As of 1 January 1999, trampoline became a discipline of gymnastics at the Olympic Games.

Trampoline gymnastics debuted at the Sydney 2000 Games featuring both men's and women's individual events. The Russian Federation took home two gold medals at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games as Alexander Moskalenko and Irina Karavaeva were crowned with gold medals

Trampoline competitions are open to both men and women.gymnastics event of the 29th Olympic Games will be held in Beijing from August 9-24, 2008.

The artistic gymnastics and trampoline competitions will be held at the National Indoor Stadium and the rhythmic gymnastics will be held at the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium. The gymnastics event of the 29th Olympic Games will be held in Beijing from August 9-24, 2008.

The artistic gymnastics and trampoline competitions will be held at the National Indoor Stadium and the rhythmic gymnastics will be held at the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium.

Handball

Sydney Olympic Park, Pavilion 2, 20 September 2000, Games of the XXVII Olympiad: Magnus WISLANDER (N°3) of Sweden battling with Anouar AYED (n°2) of Tunisia during the handball preliminaries. Sweden went on to win the game by 27 to 18. Credit: Getty Images/Steve Munday

The modern game of handball was first played towards the end of the 19th century in Denmark, Germany and Sweden. Recognition of field handball based on the games of "Raffball" (snatch ball) and "Königsbergerball" (Konrad Koch, 1846-1911) occurred at the turn of the century. G. Wallström introduced Sweden to the sport of "handball" in 1910.

After the men's game debuted on turf football fields at the 1936 Games in Berlin, the European-based sport next appeared in its present indoor form in 1972 at Munich. A women's division opened in 1976 and it has become one of the most highly attended Olympic sports.The handball event of the 29th Olympic Games will be held in Beijing from August 9-24, 2008. The preliminary competitions will be held at Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium and the finals will be held at the National Indoor Stadium.