Gymnastics guide - London 2012 Olympic Games

Street cred: Declaring an affiliation to gymnastics does not traditionally make you look as cool as, for instance, saying you can play the guitar solo for ‘I Am the Resurrection’. But the rise of a talented group of newcomers, many of them male, is changing perceptions.

Who’s good? China won 11 out of 18 gold medals in Beijing, although the USA and Russia look strongest in the blue riband women’s artistic event.

The basics: Olympic gymnastics is divided into three separate disciplines, which are scored by a panel of judges.

• Artistic – this is the one with all the apparatus that your mum likes.  It consists of four men-only events (pommel horse, rings, horizontal bars and uneven bars), two women-only events (balance beam and uneven bars) and two events for both genders (vault and floor).  Athletes compete for medals in each individual apparatus, with their combined scores totted up to determine the all-around team titles.

• Rhythmic – this is where hula hoops and ribbons come in.  A girl-only discipline where athletes perform a short floor routine to music using the props mentioned.  The ball and the club are other options.

• Trampoline – a simple event to fathom, it basically involves repeated bouncing.  The important part, however, is what athletes do while they're in mid-air, with scores given for difficulty, execution and flight time.

Athlete to watch: He Kexin, the 4ft 11in uneven bars specialist, was one of several Chinese athletes dogged by allegations they were underage when competing in Beijing. This time around, she can compete free from controversy.

Almost useless fact: In the ancient Olympics, gymnastics was a male-only event and all athletes would compete in the nude. Only in ancient Greece...

As seen in: Camp, cheesy movies such as the accidentally hilarious ‘Gymkata’ (1985), starring real-life Olympic champion Kurt Thomas.