An ancient sport, Gymnastics, was a part of the curriculum in ancient Greece.
However, it is believed that much before the Greeks gave the sport to the world, the
Chinese were practising a highly organised form of mass sport. The Persians later adopted
a somewhat similar exercise. India had its own version of the sport in Mallakhamb, which
flourished in the 12th century. Attempts are now being made to revive Mallakhamb, the art
of performing exercises round a wooden pole.
The first modern gymnasium was established in Berlin in 1811 by Johann Jahn. Though the
game became popular with the Germans and Swedes, the rules to make the sport competitive
were defined only late in the 19th Century. The sport also gained in popularity in the
rest of Europe and the USA. The sport has been on the Olympic agenda since 1896 and made
its debut in the Asian Games at Teheran in 1974.
The first national gymnastics championships were held in 1958 and India made its first
international appearance at the world championships at Ljublana (former Yugoslavia) in
1970. Though Chinese, Japanese and South Korean gymnasts have been ruling the Asian roost,
Indian gymnasts are still to make a mark in the international arena. |