New Code of Points and debut moves unleashed
A new Olympic cycle means an update in the Code of Points (COP), the rulebook created by the world governing body, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) in which the rules in artistic gymnastics are updated every four years.
The main change in the men’s competition for 2025-2028 is that, on all apparatus apart from vault – so floor, pommel horse, still rings, parallel bars and high bar – only eight elements will count toward the difficulty score, not the previous 10.
For the women’s competition, the format mostly remains the same, with just a refinement of how artistry is defined on beam and floor, plus a new incentive for gymnasts to show two dramatically different vaults, the main changes.
Cottbus will provide the first test for the new COP for gymnasts, coaches, judges, and fans alike.
The World Cup is also one of the officially sanctioned FIG events in which, if a gymnast performs a move for the first time, completed to the satisfaction of the judges, then that move is then named after that gymnast, their name going down in the annals of history.
Noah Kuavita of Belgium, who is competing this weekend, debuted a new skill on parallel bars at the 2021 Koper World Challenge Cup, the sister event to the World Cup series. The double salto backwards with half turn to upper arm (don’t worry, there’s a video below) is so difficult that it’s valued F (the hardest value is J).
The competition is also a platform to try out new routines that gymnasts have been training in the off-season, with the likes of British gymnast Courtney Tulloch, a world bronze medallist on rings, likely debuting a triple back off the apparatus for the first time in international competition.
So, plenty to watch out for then, despite being so early in the Olympic cycle.
Here we go again!
