Gymnastics

Not a sport. A sport requires objective scoring and an amount of knowledge must be necessary to prepare for your opponent. Dont tell me those judges follow the guidelines because I've seen enough meets to know they don't even come close. It's a glorified beauty pageant. Does that alone keep it from being a sport? No. It's because your opponent in no way affects how you prepare or perform. In any other sport that is legitimate, there is a necessary knowledge of the opponent in order to win. You scout teams in any kind of team sport, you have to know other runners' tendencies in order to beat them in a race, swimmers need to know when to know what kind of race to swim. There is no sort of reaction involved during the meet concerning adjustments. You don't have to counter anybody, out think anyone, or actually think that much in any way. You do the routines you have practiced over and over and over for years on the same type of apparatus while judges decide who looked the best. ... Read more

This sport definitely has my respect. Most gymnasts pour their heart, body and soul into training. All of the work definitely shows in the various skills they show to the judges and audience. The women have it just as hard as the men in their respective events. With all of this in mind, it is no wonder that gymnastics is my favorite event during each Summer Olympics. With Beijing 2008 coming ever closer, the USA Teams are nearly built. I can't wait!

gymnastics is a great way to have fun, work out, and learn cool tricks.

This is one of those sports that, while a supreme exhibition of the human form pushed to its limits, has this nasty tendency to damage its participants over time, even with the best preparation. I admire anyone with the strength of body and mind to pull off the moves I've seen...

This sport requires effort,skill,strenghth,knowledgeand long hours of hard work to even be 25% toward being almost perfect. Although many inguries and the risk of the moves do hurt the sports reputation, it is a gret sport to learn and its fun beyond belief.

As in the life of any athlete, it takes much perseverence and dedication. A very artful sport.

Gymnastics is an awesome sport, it requires unstopable strength and determination. Gymnasts work their butts off to be successful and their are always new stars coming up each year. Sadly, injuries plague the sport and if you're not at the right place at the right time you really won't make a lasting mark on the sport. But the process of competition is fascinating to watch, even the judging controversies.

During the Olympics it gets a lot of attention, and deservedly so, these kids work hard and really perform their hearts out. The rest of the year, unless you are a hardcore follower of the sport, it can be hit or miss.

Love watching gymnastics....perfect for having the feet on the coffee table, beer on the end table....saying "I could do that".

Very physically demanding. You have to have stamina, flexibility, and desire to succeed in it.

For those of you who say that it's a completely subjective sport, you need to go back and do your research. Read the FIG Code of Points and go to www.ngja.org. Subjectivity is limited to the mere administration of the rules. For example, deductions are not arbitrary. The Olympics in 2004, for example, where spun incorrectly by the media - the Korean should have not won and Hamm should have. What CNN, Fox, and MSNBC failed to mention was that the Korean should have also lost 0.2 for a fourth hold - thus ending up 0.1 behind Hamm, as it ended up. The judges did make a mistake, but luckily it worked out as it should have. If you compare judging mistakes in gymnastics with referee calls in football and baseball, there are far more controversial calls in those two mainstream sports than in gymnastics. (I have nationally judged for over a decade and continue to compete for over 19 years. If you'd like, I can provide documentation for all of my statements.)

It takes hours and hours in the gym for years and years just to become an average competitive gymnast. These girls are on average 14-15 years old working out 5-6 days a week and 5 hour practices each night. Or at least thats how it was for me. I did that for 6 years... and no breaksit's all year around. Gymnasts might even work harder than a lot of pro sports and they are double our age. Some people think ... oh pretty lil girls doing lil flips... but in actuality were tough hard working girls. Same goes for guy gymnasts do you know how incredibly stong you have to be to do what they are doing on the rings?? I see where people are coming from when they say were juged so thats why its not a sport and I respect that, but in my eyes I still see it as a sport.

Of all athletes I have the greatest respect for gymasts, for their strength, agility, dedication and balls. I wish I'd had the right physique to do it. I'm continually amazed at the artistry and elegance of the workouts on the bars, the backwards flips on the pommel horse and the multiple somersaults on the floor. Amazing stuff.

i personally am i a gymnast and its not easy at all, we put many hours to make ourselves the strongest. gymnastics is for sure a sport. you use your muscles and strength like any other and you need balence and Technique. I enjoy it alot.

lets see you try and do everything that a gymnast does. I am a gymnast and i work my but off. It takes extreme mental and physaical courage, determination, and strength. To you who gave gymnastics a 3 out of 5, we are not just pretty girls batting our eyelashes at the judges, we are tough and we compete on broken wrists, ankles, and even backs. Now you show me another sport with that much mental determination. SHOW SOME RESPECT FOR THE SPORT!!! (i doubt you could do it!)

Gymnnastics is the best ever!!!

Not so much a Sport as an exercise. it's Extreme Aerobic Acitivity. It's not a Sport because of it's subjective scoring. Who's to say one person's performance is better than the other's?

I'm not a gymnast either..but i like watching them. It just looks so amazing that someone can do that. I wish I could.

I'm not a gymnast, but watching these athletes defying gravity leaves me in awe

I can't imagine how much dedication, how much time and patience it would take to be able to do any of that at all! I totatlly respect the agility and talent it takes to be able to do those routines; if I could have the ability to do anything on this list of Types of Sports even moderately well, I would want learn gymnastics!

Gym chicks are hot but I only watch it during the Summer Olympics.

I have respect for gymnastics, but not as a sport. It requires a person to be extremely athletic, probably more than any "real" sport would require. The reason this is not a sport is because you are judged. It's an opinion. Sure, there are standardized points for hitting a land without an extra step, but besides that, there are no other measurables. Other sports require someone to be fastest, score more points, etc. Events judged on the look of a performance rather than a measurable performance is not a sport.

Mens gymnastics is very cool and requires a lot of skill and coordination, especially on events like the pommel horse, floor routine, and rings. That would get a 4 1/2, maybe even a 5! But women's gymnastica is making our gender look bad...a bunch of supposedly pretty girls who prance around the floor and flutter their eyelashes at the judges. Some women gymansts are good (Dominique Dawes), but most are basically the cheerleader stereotype. So between the 5 and the 1, I'll give the sport a 3. Take care, everyone!

This something that takes a lot of talent to do. You have to train for virtually years to become even somewhat good.