Trampoline sport rules to know for 2024 Olympics in Paris – NBC Bay Area

Gymnastics is a staple of the Summer Olympics.

The sport was introduced in the inaugural 1896 competition and has been contested at every Olympics since then. But one discipline of the sport doesn't have that type of history.

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Trampoline was added in 2000, joining artistic (began in 1896) and rhythmic gymnastics (added in 1984). The discipline will return at the 2024 Olympics in Paris as countries battle for medals on the men's and women's side.

What exactly is trampoline? How does it work? And what do all the terms mean? Here's everything to know about trampoline at the Olympics:

Trampolining was invented in 1934 by American gymnast George Nissen, but it wasn't added to the Olympics until 2000.

Artistic gymnastics are the traditional events that most viewers are used to seeing. There are only two trampoline Olympic events: men's individual and women's individual.

Both the men's and women's events involve gymnasts jumping on a trampoline and performing a series of twists, bounces and somersaults. Routines include 10 elements and are scored by judges based on difficulty, execution and air time.

Sixteen men and sixteen women compete in the qualification round and eight of each advance to the finals. The qualification round includes two routines by each athlete, with their scores combined to rank them from first through 16th. Medals are awarded after the finals, where each athlete gets one routine.

Here are some of the key terms to know for Olympic trampolining, courtesy of NBC Olympics:

All trampoline events in Paris will be held at Bercy Arena.

Since trampolining was added in 2000, China has dominated both the men's and women's competitions.

The Asian nation has won 14 of the 36 medals, including four gold, four silver and six bronze. Canada is second with seven total medals (two gold), while Russia has four total medals (two gold).

Team USA has never medaled in trampoline.