ABSTRACT
Modern gymnastics has ancient roots in acrobatics that arose from the sheer joy of jumping, somersaulting, rolling, climbing, swinging and other natural activities. A consequence of the escalation of skill complexity is more severe exposure to injury. Safety, as a part of injury prevention, relies on risk management from the governing body level at the broadest, all the way to the gymnast and his or her family. Injury and injury prevention are equally complex. Among the countermeasures to injury are mechanical aids, supervisory practices, fitness thresholds, teaching methods and injury prevention practices themselves. If there is a hole in the slice, the countermeasure failed, and injury prevention falls to the next lower slice. If the next lowerst slice has one or more holes that do not line up with the previous hole, then the injury is prevented. Consistent planning of training and competition can provide a sound foundation for injury prevention, treatment, communication, medical intervention and others.
