ABSTRACT
Female artistic gymnasts compete on four ‘apparatus’: the vault, the uneven bars, the balance beam and the floor while their male counterparts compete on six: pommel horse, the vault, the floor, the high bar, the parallel bars and the rings. To all intents and purposes, an apparatus can be regarded as a sport in its own right, each characterised by the intensity, duration and nature of the effort required to perform on or in it.
