This is the second post in our new series “Gymnastics History: Olympic Champions”. Over the coming months we will be looking back at former Olympic Champions and also a chance to see how our sport has developed over the years. Every Friday in the lead up to the Olympics in July, Full Twist will post a new article in this series. We will continue this series with the Men’s Still Rings Champions of Olympics past. Where possible we have included results,scores and videos where available. Unfortunately videos of the Men’s Rings finals from Atlanta 1996 back were extremely hard to find.
1896 Athens Olympic Games
- Ioannis Mitropoulos (GRE)
- Herman Weingartner (GER)
- Petros Persakis (GER)
1904 St Louis Olympic Games
- Hermann Glass (USA) 45.000
- William Mertz (USA) 35.000
- Emil Voigt (USA) 32.000
1924 Paris Olympic Games
- Francesco Martino (ITA)
- Robert Prazak (TCH)
- Ladislav Vacha (TCH)
1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games
- Leon Stukelj (YUG)
- Ladislav Vacha (TCH)
- Emanuel Loffler (TCH)
1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games
- George Gulack (USA)
- William Denton (USA)
- Giovanni Lattuada (ITA)
1936 Berlin Olympic Games
- Alois Hudec (TCH)
- Leon Stukelj (YUG)
- Matthias Volz (GER)
1948 London Olympic Games
- Karl Frei (SUI)
- Michael Reusch (SUI)
- Zdenek Ruzicka (TCH)
1952 Helsinki Olympic Games
- Grant Chaginian (URS) 19.750
- Viktor Chukarin (URS) 19.550
- Dmitri Leonkin (URS) 19.400
1956 Melbourne Olympic Games
- Albert Azarian (URS) 19.350
- Valentin Mouratov (URS) 19.150
- Masami Kubota (JPN) 19.100
1960 Rome Olympic Games
- Albert Azarian (URS) 19.725
- Boris Shakhlin (US) 19.500
- Velik Kapazazov (BUL) 19.425
1964 Tokyo Olympic Games
- Takuji Hayata (JPN) 19.475
- Franco Menichelli (ITA) 19.425
- Boris Shakhlin (URS) 19.400
1968 Mexico Olympic Games
Results unavailable
1972 Munich Olympic Games
- Akinori Nakayama (JPN) 19.350
- Mikhail Voronin (URS) 19.275
- Mitsuo Tsukahara (JPN) 19.225
1976 Montreal Olympic Games
- Nikolai Andrianov (RUS) 19.650
- Alexander Dityatin (URS) 19.550
- Dan Grecu (ROM) 19.500
1980 Moscow Olympic Games
- Dityatin Alexandr (URS) 19.875
- Tkachyov Alexandr (URS) 19.725
- Tabak Jiri (TCH) 19.600
1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games
- Gushiken Koji (JPN) 19.850
- Li Ning (CHN) 19.850
- Gaylord Mitchell (USA) 19.825
1988 Seoul Olympic Games
1.Behrendt Holger(GDR) 19.925
1.Bilozertchev Dmitri (URS) 19.925
3. Tippelt Sven (GDR) 19.875
1992 Barcelona Olympic Games
- Scherbo Vitaly (EUN) 9.937
- Li Jing (CHN) 9.875
- Li Xiaoshuang (CHN) 9.862
1996 Atlanta Olmypic Games
- Yuri Chechi (ITA) 9.887
- Szilveszter Csollany (HUN) 9.812
- Dan Burinca (ROM) 9.812
2000 Sydney Olympic Games
- Szilveszter Csollany (HUN) 9.850
- Dimosthenis Tampakos (GRE)
- Jordan Jovtchev (BUL) 9.737
2004 Athens Olympic Games
- Dimosthenis Tampakos (GRE) 9.862
- Jordan Jovtchev (BUL) 9.850
- Yuri Chechi (ITA) 9.812
2008 Beijing Olympic Games
- Chen Yibing (CHN) 16.600
- Yang Wei (CHN) 16.425
- Vorobiov Oleksandr (UKR) 16.325
So I put the question to you – who will be our 2012 Olympic Rings Champion? Will it be 2008 Olympic Champion, 2010 and 2011 World Champion Chen Yibing? Could Kohei Uchimura steal the show, or could two time Olympic Rings medalist and 6 time Olympian Jordan Jovtchev earn his third Olympic Still Rings medal? Leave a comment below with your thoughts.
Also in this series:
Love the feature…..
It won’t be Uchimura. He has enough for a final. Perhaps even to nick a bronze, but not for gold. My money is on Chen Yi Bing.
Thanks Simon 🙂 I would also put my money on Cheng Yi Bing
I calling it with Nabatrete Zanetti from brazil who came 2nd last worlds. His strength is so solid and level. And when he bounces to cross or does azarian he goes straight to level instead of going high and lowering like most gymnasts (Chen yibing include).