Vault Explained (Men's Artistic Gymnastics)

Men’s vault follows the same basic structure as the women’s apparatus of the same name: a single, fixed-difficulty skill rather than a multi-element routine.

The apparatus

The vaulting table is 135 cm high, measured from the floor. The run-up can be no longer than 25 metres, and the gymnast takes off from a springboard with both feet, either running straight onto it or arriving with a round-off. For round-off entry vaults, a safety collar around the springboard is mandatory.

How a vault is built

Under the 2025–2028 MAG Code of Points, judges assess a vault in four phases:

1. First flight — from the springboard to the hands on the table
2. Support — the brief push from the table with both hands
3. Second flight — the saltos and twists after leaving the table
4. Landing — from preparing to land to standing still

The gymnast must land facing towards or away from the table, with both feet inside a marked landing zone either side of the table’s centre line. Saltos before reaching the table, and vaults with straddled legs in the second flight, are not allowed.

Vault groups

The Code sorts vaults into five groups:

1. Single salto vaults with complex twists
2. Handspring salto vaults, with or without simple twists, and double saltos forward
3. Handspring sideways and Tsukahara vaults, with or without simple twists, and double saltos backward
4. Round-off entry vaults and single salto vaults with complex twists
5. Round-off entry vaults with or without simple twists, single saltos without twist, and double saltos

Each vault has a number: the first digit is the group, the rest identifies the vault within it. A vault numbered 319, for example, is vault 19 in group 3. The number is shown on a board to the judges before the gymnast runs. For how the families work, see vault numbers and groups, handspring vaults, Tsukahara vaults and round-off entry vaults.

How it’s scored

Because each vault already carries a published difficulty value, the D-score is effectively known before the gymnast runs, provided the vault is performed as announced. If the body shape isn’t distinct, or a twist is short by 90° or more, judges can credit it as a lower-value vault instead. A vault with no two-handed support on the table, or one where the gymnast doesn’t land feet first, is invalid and scores zero.

In qualification, the team final and the all-around final, a gymnast performs one vault. To qualify for the vault final, and in the final itself, they perform two vaults from different groups and the two scores are averaged. A stuck landing on a vault with a salto earns a 0.1 bonus. A run-up where the gymnast doesn’t touch the springboard or table costs 1.00 point, and only one extra run-up is allowed for each vault required.

For one of the best-known men’s vaults named after a gymnast, see the Dragulescu. For the women’s apparatus, see women’s vault.