Artistic Gymnastics at the 1912 Summer Olympics

At the time of the 1912 Olympics, international gynmastics was split among several schools. There was the Swedish, or Ling school; the Sokol, or Bohemian, school; and the German turnen, or European school. Each method had its supporters and the gymnastics community compromised by providing a team competition in three different systems at Stockholm - the European (German), the Swedish, and a Free System, with free choice of movements and apparatus. This would be repeated in 1920 at Antwerp, when the same three styles were used for three separate team events.

Individual gymnastics also had its exponents and its detractors. In particular, the Swedes did not like the idea of gymnastics as an individual competition, as it was against their basic concept of gymnastics. In 1908 the Swedish press did not publish the results of the individual gymnastics competition at London, as there were no Swedish participants. Still, the Swedish Olympic Committee agreed to organize an individual gymnastics event in Stockholm. In fact, at the 11th IOC Session (1910 in Luxembourg), the Swedish Olympic Committee revealed that they were not planning on conducting any competitive gymnastics but only displays. The Swedish Olympic Committee capitulated to the wishes of the IOC and agreed to organize competitive events.

All of the Olympic gymnastics events were held outdoors in the Olympic Stadium, which was common in that era.