Qualification
Field: 98 Men, 98 Women (USA: 6 Men, 6 Women)
The 2007 World Championships was the qualification event for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Team, all-around and event finals qualification round (CI)
All gymnasts compete as part of a team or individuals in the qualification round. Performances in the qualification round are used to qualify gymnasts for the team (CIV), individual all-around (CII) and individual event (CIII) finals. (The “C” designations are used on the official schedules and documents.) Due to the number of athletes, each qualification round is divided into subdivisions (three for the men and four for the women). No scores are carried over from the qualification round to the finals. For the 12 countries who qualified for team competition, six gymnasts per federation are entitled to participate in the qualification (CI) round. For the team competition, no more than five gymnasts may compete on a single apparatus, and the four highest scores count toward the team total (known as the 6-5-4 format). Gymnasts who want to advance to the all-around finals must compete on all of the apparatus.

The competition order of the gymnasts on each team is decided by each respective federation.

To qualify for the vault event final, two vaults are necessary. The qualifying score for the vault finals is based on the average of the two scores. For the all-around and the team qualification, only the first vault will count.

Team competition finals (CIV)
The top eight (8) men’s and women’s teams from the qualification rounds advance to the team finals (CIV). All eight teams compete on all apparatus, and the team with the highest total score claims the team title. The 6-3-3 format will be used in the finals, which means that three athletes compete on each apparatus and all three scores count.

All-around finals (CII)
The 24 top men and women from the qualification rounds (CI), with a maximum two per National Olympic Committee (NOC), proceed to the individual all-around finals (CII). The gymnasts compete on all apparatus and those with the highest total scores claim the medals in the individual all-around.

Apparatus Finals (CIII)
The top eight (8) men and eight women on each apparatus in the qualification rounds (CI), with no more than two per NOC, advance to the finals to compete for individual apparatus titles (CIII).

Olympic Order
Olympic Order is the international competition order that is decided by the FIG.
Women: vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise.
Men: floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar.

In 1988 and 1992, six gymnasts made an Olympic Team. The format for team prelims and team finals were the same: all six gymnasts competed on each event with the five highest scores counting toward the team total.

In 1996, the format changed. Seven gymnasts comprised a team and six gymnasts competed on each event, with five scores counting. This format was used for both prelims and finals.

In 2000, teams were reduced from seven gymnasts to six. Five gymnasts competed on each event, and four scores counted toward the team total in both prelims and finals.

The format instituted at the 2004 Olympics in Athens will be used in 2008 in Beijing. Preliminaries will use the 6-5-4 format, and team finals will have three athletes competing on each event, and all three scores contributing to the final team score (6-3-3).

The 2008 Olympic Games will use the new scoring system, which was implemented in January 2006. Gymnastics scoring no longer uses the cap of “10,” and now a gymnast earned a combined score for difficulty and execution. Under the new system, high 15s and 16s are very good scores. Please see the scoring overview included in this media guide for a detailed explanation of the new scoring system.

Qualification: 16 men, 16 women (USA – 1 Man, 1 Woman)
Countries qualified at the 2007 World Championships; there is a maximum of four athletes (2 men, 2 women) per NOC.

Schedule
8-16-08 - Men’s & Women’s qualification round - 11 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. (Beijing Time)
8-18-08 - Women’s finals (w/artistic) - 6-9 p.m. (Beijing Time)
8-19-08 - Men’s finals (w/artistic) - 6-9 p.m. (Beijing Time)

The competition consists of a qualification round, from which the top eight men and eight women advance to their respective finals, which will be held in conjunction with the individual event finals for artistic gymnastics. The competition includes a total of three routines with 10 elements in each routine.

Qualification Round
Two voluntary routines are contested - one with 10 skills, including set requirements, and a second routine of 10 different skills without limitations. For both routines, the execution score is added to the difficulty score for the total score. The eight men and eight women with the best total scores from these two routines qualify for the final. Scores from the qualification round do not carry over to the final.

Final Round
The top eight competitors from the qualification round will perform only one voluntary routine of 10 different skills without limitations. The gymnast with the highest score in the final is the winner.