Once an exercise for warriors preparing for battle, gymnastics has evolved into one of the most avidly followed Olympic events and a popular conditioning activity for all ages. Though male gymnasts are admired for their strength and skill, it is largely women's gymnastics that captivates audiences and inspires thousands of children to take up the sport.

Derived from the Greek word gymnos, which means naked, the combination of acrobatics and tumbling that we call gymnastics was devised by the Greeks as an exercise to balance the mind and body and learn skills useful in battle. Other ancient cultures, notably the Chinese, Indians, and Persians, performed similar conditioning exercises. It was in the early nineteenth century that the benefits of gymnastics were popularized in Europe when Friedrich Jahn established Turnvereins, or gymnastics clubs, all over Germany. American clubs in the style of Jahn's clubs were opened in Cincinnati in...