The men's
parallel bars
Parallel bars are floor apparatus consisting of two wooden bars slightly over long and positioned at roughly head height. Parallel bars are used in artistic gymnastics and also for physical therapy and home exercise. Gymnasts may optionally we ...
was one of eight
gymnastics
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...
events on the
Gymnastics at the 1896 Summer Olympics
At the 1896 Summer Olympics, eight gymnastics events, all for men, were contested in Panathinaiko Stadium. They were organized and prepared by the Sub-Committee for Wrestling and Gymnastics. Events took place on April 9, April 10, and April 11, ...
programme. The parallel bars event was held on 10 April, the seventh gymnastics event to be held. 18 gymnasts from six nations competed, with the judges announcing
Alfred Flatow
Alfred Flatow (3 October 1869 – 28 December 1942) was a Jews, Jewish Germany, German gymnastics, gymnast. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. He was murdered in the Holocaust.
Biography
Flatow was a successful competitor in 18 ...
as the winner and
Louis Zutter
Jules Alexis "Louis" Zutter (2 December 1865 – 10 November 1946) was a Swiss gymnast. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.
Zutter won one of the events, the pommel horse. He was also the runner-up in two more events, the vau ...
as the runner-up.
Background
This was the first appearance of the event, which is one of the five apparatus events held every time there were apparatus events at the Summer Olympics (no apparatus events were held in 1900, 1908, 1912, or 1920). The field consisted of 10 Germans and 8 gymnasts from 5 other nations.
[Charles Champaud is counted as Bulgarian here; some sources count him as Swiss (making the total number of nations competing 5 rather than 6).]
Competition format
Judges awarded the prizes, but little is known of the scoring and rankings.
[Official Report, p. 82.]
Schedule
The men's parallel bars was held in the morning of the fifth day of events, having been moved from the fourth day as the other gymnastics events went too long to finish the full programme.[
]
Results
References
Sources
* (Digitally available a
* (Excerpt available a
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gymnastics at the 1896 Summer Olympics - Men's parallel bars
Gymnastics at the 1896 Summer Olympics, Men's parallel bars
Men's 1896