Gymnastics Explained

What Is a Dragulescu Vault?

Men's Artistic

In brief

A Dragulescu is a front-handspring-entry vault followed by a double front tucked salto with a half twist in the flight phase.

Key takeaways

  • The entry is a straightforward front handspring onto the table, not a round-off entry.
  • In Code of Points terms it is a Roche (handspring and double front tucked salto) with a half turn added — worth 5.2 in the 2025–2028 MAG Code of Points.
  • A piked version, named after North Korea's Ri Se Gwang, is worth 5.6.
  • It's named after Romanian gymnast Marian Drăgulescu, an eight-time world champion on floor and vault.

The Dragulescu is a front-handspring-entry vault, distinguished by a demanding double front salto with an added twist in the flight phase.

How it works

The gymnast runs straight at the table and performs a front handspring onto it, then completes two forward saltos in a tucked position, adding a half (180°) twist, before landing. Because of the half twist, he lands facing the table rather than away from it.

In the 2025–2028 MAG Code of Points it is listed as “Roche with ½ turn” (vault 226), in group 2 of the men’s vault table — handspring salto vaults and double saltos forward.

The Dragulescu is easiest to understand as part of a small family of double-front vaults in the men’s table:

VaultNumberValue (2025–2028 MAG)
Roche — handspring and double front salto tucked2254.8
Dragulescu — Roche with a half turn2265.2
Blanik — handspring and double front salto piked2315.2
Ri Se Gwang 2 — Dragulescu piked2325.6

Each step up adds either a twist or a harder body shape. The women’s version of the Roche is the Produnova, which has no half twist.

Who Marian Drăgulescu is

Marian Drăgulescu is a Romanian gymnast who specialised in floor and vault. He won eight World Championship titles — on floor in 2001, 2002, 2006 and 2009, and on vault in 2001, 2005, 2006 and 2009 — and Olympic medals at Athens 2004: silver on floor (after a tie-break), bronze on vault and bronze with the Romanian team.

His vault results also show how unforgiving a second vault can be. In the Athens vault final he scored 9.9 on his first vault but fell on his second, finishing with bronze. At Beijing 2008 he again fell on his second vault and finished fourth. In both finals, the two scores were averaged — see men’s vault for how vault finals work.

For more on the entry family, see handspring vaults and vault numbers and groups.

Related pages

  • Handspring Vaults Explained

    Handspring entry vaults involve the gymnast running straight at the table and performing a front handspring onto it. The plain handspring is the simplest vault in the Code of Points, but the family also includes some of the hardest vaults in the sport.

  • What Is a Produnova Vault?

    A Produnova is a handspring-entry vault followed by two forward tucked saltos in the flight phase, widely regarded as one of the most difficult and highest-risk vaults ever attempted in competition.

  • Vault Numbers, Groups and Difficulty Explained

    Every recognised vault is listed in the Code of Points with a number and a fixed difficulty value, in one of five groups defined mainly by how the gymnast gets onto the table — handspring, Tsukahara or round-off entries.

  • Vault Explained (Men's Artistic Gymnastics)

    A gymnast sprints down a run-up, springs off a board onto the vaulting table, performs flight elements, and lands, with the vault's difficulty fixed by the Code of Points.

Sources

Written by Claire McDonald

Published 25 October 2026 · editorially reviewed 10 October 2026 · High review risk

This page has not been independently reviewed by a gymnastics technical expert.

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