The basics
Made of a fiberglass core with a wooden veneer, the uneven bars rest on vertical supports of different heights. The lower bar is 1.5m from the floor, while the upper bar is at 2.7m. Gymnasts must perform movements using both bars, incorporating flight from high to low and vice-versa, different grips, turns and swings. The routine must also incorporate a dismount.
Competition format
The Olympic Artistic Gymnastics competition has four phases: qualification, Team final, Individual All-Around final and individual apparatus finals.
All gymnasts compete in the qualifications. The best eight teams then go through to the Team final, where three team members compete on each apparatus. Teams are ranked on their total score.
The best 24 individual gymnasts (maximum two from each country) go through to the Individual All-Around final, where gymnasts compete on all apparatus. The best eight gymnasts on each apparatus (maximum two from each country) go through to the individual apparatus finals.
Each apparatus is judged for difficulty and execution, with the highest scoring athlete the winner.
For further information please refer to the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).
