My mother often complains that I speak in acronyms. So for the sake of my Mom, and others who may not be as intensely involved in the gymnastics world, here is a quick rundown of the common acronyms used on this website:
The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) is the governing body which oversees all gymnastics disciplines worldwide, including Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics (MAG and WAG). The FIG has jurisdiction over rules concerning gymnastics at the Olympic Games (OG) and World Championships (WC) and other international competitions. Gymnastics judging research also includes data from the European Championships (EC) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The FIG uses a Judges Evaluation Program (JEP) computerized analysis to oversee judging accuracy at higher level international competitions.
National Governing Bodies (NGBs) are the organizations which oversee specific sports for individual nations. In some countries, NGBs work together with national judging associations, to facilitate judges’ education and judging assignments. In the USA, the National Gymnastics Judging Association (NGJA) is the primary judging association for MAG, and the National Association of Women’s Gymnastics Judges (NAWGJ) is the primary judging association for WAG.
The Code of Points (CoP) is the primary rule book written by the FIG which governs international level competitions. A judging panel is composed of the D jury and the E jury. The D jury determines the D score which is the difficulty value of a gymnastics routine. There are typically 2 D jurors (referred to as D1 and D2) who must agree on the D score. The E jury determines the E score which is the evaluation of the execution for a routine. The number of E jurors will vary by competition (typically 5-7 for FIG competitions who are referred to as E1, E2, E3 etc.). The highest and lowest E jury scores are discarded and the middle 3 scores are averaged to determine the E score. Apparatus refers to a piece of equipment on which a gymnastics routine is performed. Element refers to the specific skills which gymnasts perform during their competitive exercises. Brevet judges are those who have earned an international rating by the FIG. Podium training refers to the practice and warm-up time which gymnasts are permitted at a competition venue prior to the actual judged competition. The series of elements a gymnast performs on an apparatus in competition is referred to as an exercise or routine, and will be used interchangeably on this website.