Gymnastics Explained

Named skill

A skill named after the gymnast who first performed it — such as the Yurchenko, the Tkachev or the Biles. The FIG names it only if strict conditions are met.

Many skills carry the name of the gymnast who first performed them. Under the 2025–2028 Codes of Points, a new skill is named after a gymnast only if it is:

  1. performed for the first time internationally at an official FIG Group 1, 2 or 3 competition;
  2. valued at C or higher, and performed for value — the men’s Code adds: without a fall;
  3. confirmed by the FIG’s Technical Committee after analysing the performance.

If more than one gymnast performs the same new skill at the same competition, it’s named after all of them. The coach submits the skill, with drawings and video, before the competition, and it receives a provisional value until confirmed.

Some names on this site: the Yurchenko, Produnova and Dragulescu vaults; the Tkachev, Jaeger, Pak salto and Shaposhnikova on bars; the Magyar on pommel horse; the Moors on floor. A name isn’t permanent — the Korbut flip on bars is no longer in the Code.

Related guides

  • How Gymnastics Skills Get Named

    A skill is named after a gymnast only if they are the first to perform it at an official FIG Group 1, 2 or 3 competition, it is worth at least a C, and the FIG Technical Committee confirms it after reviewing the performance.

  • What Is a Biles Skill? Every Named Biles Element Explained

    A 'Biles' skill is any element formally credited to Simone Biles in the Code of Points after she first performed it at an eligible international competition. As of the 2025-2028 cycle, five such elements exist: two on vault, two on floor exercise and one on balance beam.

  • What Is a Yurchenko Vault?

    A Yurchenko vault starts with a round-off onto the springboard, a back handspring onto the vaulting table, then one or more saltos and/or twists before landing.

Related terms

  • Code of Points

    The FIG rulebook for judging, published separately for women's and men's artistic gymnastics. The current editions run from 2025 to 2028.

  • Difficulty value

    The value the Code of Points gives each skill, written as a letter from A (0.1) to J (1.0). Vaults have numerical values instead.

  • FIG

    The Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique — the international federation that governs gymnastics, writes the Codes of Points and runs the World Championships.

Sources