Gymnastics Explained

Tie-break

The rules for separating gymnasts or teams on the same score. In apparatus finals, the higher execution score wins first.

When scores are level, the FIG Technical Regulations break the tie with a fixed sequence of criteria, and only share the placing if every one is equal:

  • Apparatus finals (except vault): higher E-score, then higher D-score.
  • Vault: the higher of the two individual vaults, then the higher E-score of either vault, then the higher D-score.
  • All-around: the higher total of the best apparatus scores (best five of six for men, best three of four for women), then total E-score, then total D-score.
  • Team: the higher total of the best apparatus scores only.

The same rules apply at World Championships and Olympic Games. At the Junior World Championships, ties aren’t broken at all.

The best-known British example is the London 2012 pommel horse final, where Louis Smith and Krisztián Berki both scored 16.066 and Berki won gold on his higher execution score.

Related guides

  • Gymnastics Tie-Break Rules Explained

    When gymnasts tie, the FIG Technical Regulations break the tie with a fixed sequence of criteria — the best apparatus scores in the all-around and team events, then execution and difficulty — and only share the placing if every criterion is equal.

  • Louis Smith

    Louis Smith is a British gymnast and pommel horse specialist who won four Olympic medals across three Games, including the first individual British Olympic gymnastics medal in a century when he took bronze in 2008.

Related terms

  • E-score

    The execution score: it starts at 10.00 and is reduced by deductions for faults in technique, form, landings and, in women's gymnastics, artistry.

  • D-score

    The difficulty score: the value of the skills performed plus credit for composition and connections. It has no upper limit.

  • Apparatus final

    A final deciding the medals on one apparatus, contested by the eight highest qualifiers on it, with no more than two per country.

  • All-around

    A competition, or a gymnast's total, combining scores from every apparatus in their discipline: four for women, six for men.

Sources