Rhythmic Gymnastics

Rhythmic gymnastics is a three-day event.

The 2012 Olympic program for rhythmic gymnastics consists of two events, individual all-around and group. There is a qualification and a final phase to each competition.

In London, the individual events contested will be ribbon, hope, clubs and ball. Apparatus used for group competition will consist of routines with five balls, and a second with three ribbons and two hoops.

Individual competition

The rhythmic gymnastics individual all-around event takes place over three days. On the first day, all 24 entrants -- in an order determined by a random draw-- perform two routines; on the second day, they perform two more routines. The 24 athletes are then ranked based on their total scores, derived from adding the scores attained for each apparatus. After all tie-breaking rules have been applied, the 10 gymnasts with the highest scores (including those tied for 10th place) advance to the all-around final.

The individual final is held two days after the qualification round. Scores do not carry over. The order of gymnasts for the final is determined by a random draw. All 10 finalists again perform routines with each of the four apparatus, and whoever has the highest total score wins the gold medal. Silver and bronze go to the gymnasts with the second- and third-highest scores, respectively.

Group competition

Group Qualification: In group qualifying, each of the 12 groups  performs two routines, the first with five balls and the second with three ribbons/two hoops. The teams are ranked based on total points. The order of performances will be determined by a drawing of lots. The eight (8) highest-ranked groups qualify for the final.

Group Final: The group final is held two days after qualifying. Scores do not carry over. In the final, each group again performs with both sets of apparatus to achieve a total score (maximum of 60.0 points). The highest-scoring group in the final wins gold, and the second- and third-highest ranking groups get silver and bronze.