The 2018 TeamGym European Championships took place in Odivelas, near Lisbon, in October 2018. TeamGym is a European-born discipline, and its championships are among the largest gatherings of club gymnasts on the continent.
What TeamGym is
A TeamGym team has between six and twelve gymnasts and competes in three parts: floor, tumbling and trampette (a small springboard-style trampoline used with a vault table or into a landing area). The floor programme is a group routine performed in formation with music. On tumbling and trampette, six gymnasts perform in each of three rounds, and the team's score reflects both difficulty and the uniformity of the group.
Categories include women's, men's and mixed teams, at senior and junior level.
The Nordic tradition
TeamGym grew out of Scandinavian gymnastics culture, and Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland have historically been the strongest nations. The sport also has strong programmes in Great Britain and Portugal, among others. Hosting the championships in Portugal underlined how the discipline had spread beyond its Nordic roots.
Why it appeals
TeamGym rewards collective quality. A team cannot hide a weak gymnast for long, because every member contributes to rounds where synchronisation is judged. For clubs, it is also a realistic competitive path for gymnasts who did not specialise early in artistic gymnastics.
Watching notes
- Tumbling rounds escalate: the third round normally carries the most difficult passes. - On trampette, look for twisting double somersaults performed in quick succession by different team members. - In the floor routine, formations change constantly; judges look at the spacing and timing of the group as a whole.
Related
Our TeamGym page explains the scoring, and our guide to choosing a gymnastics club covers TeamGym as a path for young gymnasts.
