Five New Men's Elements Submitted for Consideration at Rio Olympics

Four male athletes have submitted skills to be considered for the Code of Points at the 2016 Rio Olympics. If the gymnasts successfully compete their respec

Aug 3, 2016 by Rebecca Johnson

Five New Men's Elements Submitted for Consideration at Rio Olympics

Four male athletes have submitted skills to be considered for the Code of Points at the 2016 Rio Olympics. If the gymnasts successfully compete their respective skills, the skills will be named in their honor.

Release via FIG

Four new skills in Men's Gymnastics have been submitted for consideration to the FIG Men's Technical Committee at the Olympic Games. The technical committee has already rated the elements for difficulty from A to I, with A being the easiest and I the hardest. Vaults are given a numeric difficulty rating.

If done successfully at any time during the Games, these elements will be officially named for the gymnast who performs them.

Here are the prospective new elements:

The Arican

Submitted by: Ferhat Arican, Turkey

Apparatus: Parallel Bars

Element description: A dismount in which the gymnast performs a front double pike somersault with a half twist.

Element value: G

Note: Arican, a Youth Olympic Games medallist, attempted this element at the 2015 World Championships. It was not named for him because he performed it with incorrect body position. He'll try again in Rio.

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The Bretschneider II

Submitted by: Andreas Bretschneider, Germany

Apparatus: Horizontal Bar

Element description: A release skill in which the gymnast releases the bar and cranks two flips and two twists over the bar in a stretched body position before regrasping it.

Element value: I

Note: Bretschneider introduced the same element in a tucked position in 2014. If performed successfully, this new variation would be worth an I on a scale that currently only extends from A to H, making it the hardest element in the Men's Code of Points.

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The Nguyen

Submitted by: Marcel Nguyen, Germany

Apparatus: Parallel Bars

Element description: A free hip circle mount from the side of the bars with three quarter turn to handstand position.

Element value: E

Note: Nguyen, the Parallel Bars silver medallist from the London Olympics, has not yet inked his name in the Code on his signature apparatus.

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The Radivilov

Submitted by: Igor Radivilov, Ukraine

Apparatus: Vault

Element description: Facing forward, the gymnast bursts off the vault table and performs three compete somersaults before hitting the ground.

Element value: 7.0

Note: The Roche, the same vault but with one less somersault, has been a mainstay in international competition for nearly 30 years.

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The Shirai II

Submitted by: Kenzo Shirai, Japan

Apparatus: Vault

Element description: A roundoff entry vault with a back somersault in a stretched body position with three and a half twists.

Element value: 6.4

Note: Shirai, along with Korea's Kim Hee Hon, performed this vault with three twists at the 2013 World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. Now "Mr. Twist" is planning take it to another level.

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