Gymnastics Explained
Olympic order
The fixed sequence in which apparatus are competed at major championships: vault, bars, beam, floor for women; floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars, horizontal bar for men.
At World Championships and Olympic Games, gymnasts rotate around the apparatus in a set sequence, known as Olympic order. The FIG Technical Regulations set it as:
| Women | Men |
|---|---|
| 1. Vault | 1. Floor |
| 2. Uneven bars | 2. Pommel horse |
| 3. Balance beam | 3. Rings |
| 4. Floor | 4. Vault |
| 5. Parallel bars | |
| 6. Horizontal bar |
Groups start on different apparatus and move round in this order, so a gymnast or team may begin on any apparatus but always follows the same sequence. In the all-around final, gymnasts are seeded into Olympic order based on their qualification results, and after each apparatus, the gymnast who went first moves to the back of the order on the next one.
Olympic order is also the conventional way to list the apparatus, as this site does.
Sources
- FIG Technical Regulations 2025 — International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) (accessed 11 October 2026)