Flying rings

Flying rings was a gymnastic event similar to 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.

Apparatus

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 3 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.

History

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.