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FORMER APPARATUS
Rope Climbing
Rope climbing was an Olympic Gymnastic event at one time, but was removed from that venue after the 1932
Games. In the United States, competitive climbing on both 20-foot and 25-foot, 1.5 inch diameter natural fiber ropes was sanctioned
by both the AAU and the NCAA until the early 1960s, when these organizations dropped the events. As a result, intercollegiate
competition in the USA disappeared at this time.
In Olympic Games held in the USA, competitors climbed a 25-foot (7.62 m) rope,
but when post-1896 Games were held in Europe, an 8 m (26.3 feet) rope was used. In almost all contests, athletes climbed for speed,
starting from a seated position on the floor and using only the hands and arms. Kicking the legs in a kind of "stride" was normally
permitted. However, at the 1896 Olympic Games, competitors were ranked by both time and style (holding an L-position) on a rope
so long (15 meters) that some climbers did not reach the top and were therefore excluded. In all succeeding Olympics through
the 1932 Games, competitors were judged strictly by time of ascent on a shorter rope.
Flying Rings
Flying rings was a gymnastic event similar to the still rings, but with
the performer gripping a pair of rings, approximately shoulder width apart, and swinging — from the point of suspension of the
rings — while executing a series of stunts.
Whereas still rings are now suspended from a support almost 19 feet above the floor, flying rings — also used as still rings
in the past — were on cables up to 22 feet in length, the extra four feet allowing the gymnast to swing through an impressive arc.
The rings themselves were at times larger and heavier than competition still rings today, designed on a steel core covered by rubber
or leather.
There is some evidence that the event took place in an international contest in the late 1800s, if not earlier. Records from
Princeton University indicate one of its students, H. G. Otis, won the Eastern Intercollegiate Championships in flying rings in
1902. In America, the event persisted on a regular basis in both NCAA and AAU gymnastic competitions until the early 1960s,
when those governing bodies eliminated the flying rings in future meets in an effort to correlate apparatus and performances with
those in the modern Olympic Games. Another reason flying rings was removed from intercollegiate competitions is the dangerous
nature of the event, with the gymnast soaring to a height of 15 feet or so at each end of a swing. Frank Snay, of Navy, was the
last winner in the NCAA event in 1961. It is difficult to ascertain if flying rings ever existed in the Olympic Games, for
records occasionally cite medalists in "flying rings" when in fact the event may have been the still rings.
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