Rings, Men

Armenian Albert Azaryan was a rings specialist who had won the 1954 World Championships and won the gold medal in Melbourne, and would defend in Rome. He invented the Olympic cross, a variant of the iron cross, in which the gymnast is stationary on the rings with his arms outstretched at shoulder height. In the Olympic cross, the gymnast twists first to one side then the other. It originated at the 1953 Soviet Championships when Russian judges told the Armenian coach their gymnasts were not holding their crosses long enough. Azaryan went into an iron cross, then turned to the judges on one side, asking, “Is this long enough?” and then repeated the maneuver to opposite side.

This event was fully dominated by the Soviet Union and Japan who filled the first eight places, with five Japanese and three Soviets. Silver went to Soviet Valentin Muratov while the bronze was won by Masami Kubota. Kubota also won apparatus bronze medals on the parallel bars and horizontal bar, while Muratov won apparatus golds on the vault and floor exercise. Azaryan’s son, Eduard, would compete in gymnastics at the 1980 Olympics.