A perfect 10 is a score of 10.000 for a single routine in
artistic gymnastics
Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), ...
, which was once thought to be unattainable—particularly at the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
—under the
code of points set by the
International Gymnastics Federation
The International Gymnastics Federation ( French: ''Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique'', abbr. FIG) is the body governing competition in all disciplines of gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on 23 ...
(FIG). It is generally recognized that the first person to score a perfect 10 at the Olympic Games was Romanian
Nadia Comăneci, at the
1976 Games in Montreal. Other women who accomplished this feat at the Olympics include
Nellie Kim, also in 1976,
Mary Lou Retton
Mary Lou Retton (born January 24, 1968) is an American retired gymnast. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the individual all-around competition, as well as two silver medals and two bronze medals.
Retton's per ...
in 1984,
Daniela Silivaș and
Yelena Shushunova in
1988,
Lu Li and
Lavinia Miloșovici in
1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
. The first man to score a perfect 10 is considered to be
Alexander Dityatin
Aleksandr Nikolaevich Dityatin (, born 7 August 1957) is a retired Russian gymnast, three-time Olympic champion, and ''Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR''. Winning eight medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics, he set the record for achieving the ...
, at the
1980 Olympics in Moscow. (However, in the 1924 Paris Olympics, 22 men achieved a mark of 10 in
rope-climbing, with
Albert Séguin getting a second 10 in the
sidehorse vault, events that are no longer part of artistic gymnastics.)
The FIG changed its code of points in 2006. There are now different top scores, all greater than 10, for the various events, based upon difficulty and artistic merit; there is no consistent perfect score. Execution scores are still out of 10, so the theoretical possibility exists for a gymnast to get a partial "perfect 10" (for execution) in addition to whatever maximum number they get for difficulty, but no such score has been awarded in decades.
History
Men's artistic gymnastics had been an Olympic sport since the beginning of the modern games. Women's gymnastics were introduced as a single (team) event in the 1928 games, but were not expanded until the 1952 games, when there were seven events.
The
International Federation of Gymnastics
The International Gymnastics Federation (French language, French: ''Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique'', abbr. FIG) is the body governing competition in all disciplines of gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It wa ...
first drew up a
code of points—for men—in 1949. Although the code was based on a maximum score of 10, until 1976 it was considered impossible to achieve a score of greater than 9.95, particularly at the Olympic Games. At the World Championships or Olympics, from when increased standardization of competition format and scoring (which was capped at a 10, a trend which would not be changed until 2006) was introduced at the 1952 Olympics, the very highest scores tended to be in the 9.400 – 9.600 range, and over the next few World and Olympic cycles through the 1950, 1960s, and 1970s, the top scores gradually got higher through the 9.700 and 9.800 range.
During the post-1952 era, a couple of very early scores, essentially extreme outliers, that came very close to the 10 mark were
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
-Soviet
Hrant Shahinyan's 9.950 on optional rings at the
1952 Olympics and
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
-Soviet
Albert Azaryan
Albert Azaryan (; 11 February 1929 – 5 September 2023) was a Soviet and Armenian artistic gymnast who competed internationally representing the Soviet Union. He was the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Champion on the still rings. Azaryan was the first ...
's 9.950, also on the optional still rings exercise, at the
1954 World Championships. On the men's side, these scores might not have been surpassed, or even equaled, at a World Championships or Olympics until 1980, as even scores of 9.900 were extremely rare and, in some Worlds and Olympics throughout the 1950s−1970s, scores of 9.900 seem to have been non-existent for the men.
One early example of a woman gymnast breaking 9.900 at a World Championships or Olympics in the post-1952 era was Soviet
Larisa Latynina
Larisa Semyonovna Latynina (, née Diriy, Дирий; born 27 December 1934) is a Russian former artistic gymnast. Between 1956 and 1964 she won 14 List of multiple Olympic medalists, individual Olympic medals and four team medals for the Sovie ...
at the
1962 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships with a score of 9.933. Soviet
Zinaida Druzhinina-Voronina also scored a 9.933, at the
1966 World Championships in the floor exercise finals.
Věra Čáslavská of
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
was the first gymnast to achieve perfect 10s at a major competition in the post-1952 era, which she did twice at the
1967 European Championships, which were displayed on a manual scoreboard.
Prior to the
1976 Olympics in Montreal,
Omega
Omega (, ; uppercase Ω, lowercase ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and last letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numerals, Greek numeric system/isopsephy (gematria), it has a value ...
, the official timers, asked the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
how many digits it should allow on the electronic scoreboard, and were told that three digits would be sufficient, as a score of 10.00 would not be possible.
On 18 July 1976, however, 14-year-old Romanian gymnast
Nadia Comăneci scored a 10 on the
uneven bars
The uneven bars or asymmetric bars is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. It is made of a steel frame. The bars are made of fiberglass with wood coating, or less commonly wood. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is UB or ...
. Because the scoreboard was limited to three digits, it displayed her score as 1.00.
[ This led to confusion, with even Comăneci unsure of what it meant, until the announcer informed the elated crowd that she had scored a perfect 10. An iconic press photograph (see above) shows a beaming Comăneci, arms upraised, beside the scoreboard. Comăneci scored a total of seven 10s at the 1976 Olympics—four on the uneven bars and three on the ]balance beam
The balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus and an event performed using the apparatus. The apparatus and the event are sometimes simply called "beam". The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is BB. The bal ...
.[ Her main rival, the Soviet Union's Nelli Kim, scored two 10s in the same competition, in the vault and floor exercise. Comăneci's coach, Béla Károlyi, having defected to the United States in 1981, subsequently coached American ]Mary Lou Retton
Mary Lou Retton (born January 24, 1968) is an American retired gymnast. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the individual all-around competition, as well as two silver medals and two bronze medals.
Retton's per ...
to gold at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, where she scored 10s in the vault and floor exercise.
The first man to score a perfect 10 in Olympic competition was the Soviet Alexander Dityatin
Aleksandr Nikolaevich Dityatin (, born 7 August 1957) is a retired Russian gymnast, three-time Olympic champion, and ''Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR''. Winning eight medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics, he set the record for achieving the ...
, in the vault, on the way to a record-breaking eight medals in the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. Among other men to achieve the score was Comăneci's future husband, Bart Conner, who achieved two 10s in the 1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...
in Los Angeles.[
]
Change in scoring
The code of points came under review as a result of separate incidents during the 2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece.
The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
in Athens, in which gymnasts were believed to have received excessively low scores. A new scoring system was introduced in 2006. It consists of an "A" score, based on the difficulty of elements, and a "B" score, based on artistic impression. While the B score still has a maximum of 10, it is only a part of the overall score.
The change had its share of critics. Béla Károlyi said of it: "It's crazy, terrible, the stupidest thing that ever happened to the sport of gymnastics.". Mary Lou Retton remarked: "It's hard to understand. I don't even understand it."[ Nadia Comăneci commented, "It's so hard to define sports like ours and we had something unique. The 10, it was ours first and now you give it away."][
]
List of perfect 10s
''This list may be incomplete.''
Olympics
Paris 1924
*Twenty-two men in rope-climbing, with Albert Séguin getting a second 10.0 in the sidehorse vault
Montreal 1976
Events January
* January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 18 – Full diplomatic ...
= Women
=
* Nadia Comăneci – team compulsory uneven bars, team optional uneven bars, team optional balance beam, all around uneven bars, all around balance beam, uneven bars event final, balance beam event final
* Nellie Kim – all around vault, floor exercise event final
(Olympic database; Women's individual results; women's all-around results; women's team results)
Moscow 1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
= Men
=
* Alexander Dityatin
Aleksandr Nikolaevich Dityatin (, born 7 August 1957) is a retired Russian gymnast, three-time Olympic champion, and ''Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR''. Winning eight medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics, he set the record for achieving the ...
– all around vault
* Stoyan Deltchev – all around rings
* Aleksandr Tkachyov – all around high bar
* Michael Nikolay – all around pommel horse
* Zoltán Magyar
Zoltán Magyar (born 13 December 1953) is a Hungarian former gymnast who was the world's leading pommel horse gymnast in the 1970s. In this event he won two Olympic, three world, three European and two World Cup titles. Magyar had two moves n ...
– all around pommel horse, pommel horse event final
(Men's all-around results; men's individual event results)
= Women
=
* Natalia Shaposhnikova – team compulsory vault
* Yelena Davydova – team optional floor exercise
* Emilia Eberle – team optional uneven bars
* Nadia Comăneci – team compulsory balance beam, all around uneven bars
* Melita Ruhn
Melita Ruhn (later Fleischer, born 19 April 1965) is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast who represented Romania at the 1980 Summer Olympics. She belongs to the German minority in Romania.
She won three Olympic medals (team, vault, uneven bars) ...
– team optional vault
* Maxi Gnauck – team optional uneven bars
Los Angeles 1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
= Men
=
* Peter Vidmar – team compulsory pommel horse, all around high bar, pommel horse event final
* Bart Conner – team optional parallel bars, parallel bars event final
* Mitch Gaylord – team compulsory parallel bars, team optional rings
* Tim Daggett
Timothy Patrick Daggett (born May 22, 1962) is a former American gymnastics, gymnast and an Olympic gold medalist. He is a graduate of West Springfield High School and University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA, who competed in the 1984 Summer ...
– team optional high bar
* Li Ning – team compulsory pommel horse, team optional rings, floor exercise event final, pommel horse event final
* Tong Fei – team compulsory high bar, team optional rings, all around high bar, high bar event final
* Xu Zhiqiang – team compulsory high bar
* Lou Yun – team compulsory vault, team optional vault
* Li Xiaoping
Li Xiaoping ( zh, c=李小平, p=Lǐ Xiǎopíng, born 19 September 1962) is a male Chinese gymnast. He competed at the Gymnastics at the 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 Olympic Games, and won a silver medal in Men's Team. In the 1983 World Champio ...
– team compulsory pommel horse
* Koji Gushiken – team compulsory high bar, all around vault, high bar event final
* Shinji Morisue – team compulsory high bar, team optional high bar, high bar event final
* Nobuyuki Kajitani – parallel bars event final
= Women
=
* Ecaterina Szabo – team compulsory floor exercise, team optional vault, all around balance beam, floor exercise event final
* Simona Păucă – team optional balance beam
* Mary Lou Retton
Mary Lou Retton (born January 24, 1968) is an American retired gymnast. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the individual all-around competition, as well as two silver medals and two bronze medals.
Retton's per ...
– team optional vault, all around vault, all around floor exercise
* Julianne McNamara – team optional uneven bars, team optional floor exercise, all around uneven bars, uneven bars event final, floor exercise event final
* Ma Yanhong – team optional uneven bars, all around uneven bars, uneven bars event final
(Men's results; women's results)
Seoul 1988
= Men
=
* Vladimir Artemov – team compulsory parallel bars, team optional high bar, all around parallel bars, all around high bar
* Valeri Liukin – team optional pommel horse, team optional parallel bars, all around high bar
* Dmitry Bilozerchev – team optional pommel horse, team optional rings, all around pommel horse, all around rings, all around vault, pommel horse event final
* Sergei Kharkov – team optional floor exercise
* Koichi Mizushima – team optional pommel horse
* Daisuke Nishikawa – team optional pommel horse
* Lubomir Geraskov – team optional pommel horse, pommel horse event final
* Zsolt Borkai – team optional pommel horse, pommel horse event final
* Holger Behrendt – team optional rings
* Sylvio Kroll – all around pommel horse
* György Guczoghy – all around pommel horse
* Csaba Fajkusz – all around high bar
= Women
=
* Yelena Shushunova – team compulsory vault, team optional vault, team optional uneven bars, team optional floor exercise, all around vault, all around floor exercise, uneven bars event final
* Daniela Silivaș – team compulsory uneven bars, team compulsory floor exercise, team optionals uneven bars, team optionals balance beam, all around uneven bars, all around floor exercise, uneven bars event final
* Dagmar Kersten – team compulsory uneven bars, uneven bars event final
(Men's results; women's results)
Barcelona 1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
= Women
=
* Lu Li – uneven bars event final
* Lavinia Miloșovici – floor exercise event final
(Women's results)
Alternate Olympics
Olomouc 1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
= Men
=
* Dmitry Bilozerchev – team optional pommel horse, team optional rings, team optional parallel bars, team optional high bar, all around pommel horse, all around vault, all around parallel bars, all around high bar, pommel horse event final, rings event final, high bar event final
* Vladimir Artemov – team optional pommel horse, team optional rings, team optional vault, all around rings
* Yuri Balabanov – team compulsory rings, team optional high bar, all around parallel bars
* Holger Behrendt – team optional rings
* Sylvio Kroll – team compulsory vault, team optional vault, vault event final
* Roland Brückner – team optional floor exercise
= Women
=
* Olga Mostepanova – team compulsory vault, team compulsory uneven bars, team compulsory balance beam, team optional vault, team optional balance beam, team optional floor exercise, all around vault, all around uneven bars, all around balance beam, all around floor exercise, balance beam event final, floor exercise event final
* Natalia Yurchenko
Natalia Vladimirovna Yurchenko () (born 26 January 1965) is a retired Soviet Union, Soviet artistic gymnast, who won the women's all-around gold medal at the 1983 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, 1983 World Championships. Renowned for he ...
– team compulsory uneven bars, team optional vault, all around vault, all around balance beam, uneven bars event final
* Yelena Shushunova – team optional vault
* Maxi Gnauck – team compulsory uneven bars, team optional vault, team optional uneven bars, all around floor exercise, uneven bars event final, floor exercise event final
* Gabriele Fähnrich – team compulsory uneven bars, uneven bars event final
* Hana Říčná – team optional balance beam, all around vault, all around uneven bars
* Martina Koblizkova – team optional vault
* Alena Dřevjaná – all around balance beam
* Franka Voigt – all around vault
* Boriana Stoyanova – all around uneven bars
* Miroslava Koblizkova – all around uneven bars
Goodwill Games
1986 Goodwill Games
= Women
=
* Yelena Shushunova – all around vault
* Oksana Omelianchik – all around floor exercise
1990 Goodwill Games
= Women
=
* Natalia Kalinina – all around floor exercise
World Championships
1934 World Championships
* Eugen Mack – vault (perfect 20 out of 20)
1950 World Championships
* Hans Eugster – compulsory parallel bars
1981 World Championships
= Men
=
* Aleksandr Tkachyov – team optional high bar, high bar event final
* Artur Akopyan – team optional high bar, high bar event final
* Tong Fei – team optional high bar, all around high bar
* Bogdan Makuts – all around high bar
* Sergio Saurez – all around high bar
* Li Xiaoping
Li Xiaoping ( zh, c=李小平, p=Lǐ Xiǎopíng, born 19 September 1962) is a male Chinese gymnast. He competed at the Gymnastics at the 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 Olympic Games, and won a silver medal in Men's Team. In the 1983 World Champio ...
– pommel horse event final
* Michael Nikolay – pommel horse event final
* György Guczoghy – pommel horse event final
* Yuri Korolev
Yuri Nikolayevich Korolyov (; 25 August 1962 – 29 April 2023) was a Soviet artistic gymnast who competed during the 1980s, winning many World and European Medals. Part of a deep Soviet team that, throughout the 1980s, featured such names as ...
– pommel horse event final
* Eberhard Gienger – high bar event final
* Kiyoshi Goto – high bar event final
= Women
=
* Olga Bicherova – all around vault
* Maxi Gnauck – uneven bars event final
1983 World Championships
= Men
=
* Tong Fei – team compulsory parallel bars, floor exercise event final
* Li Ning – team optional rings, pommel horse event final
* Lou Yun – team optional parallel bars, parallel bars event final
* Dmitry Bilozerchev – team compulsory pommel horse, team optional pommel horse, all around floor exercise, all around vault, all around high bar, pommel horse event final, rings event final, high bar event final
* Vladimir Artemov – team optional parallel bars, parallel bars event final
* Shinji Morisue – team optional high bar
* György Guczoghy – all around pommel horse, pommel horse event final
* Alexander Pogorelov – all around rings
* Li Xiaoping
Li Xiaoping ( zh, c=李小平, p=Lǐ Xiǎopíng, born 19 September 1962) is a male Chinese gymnast. He competed at the Gymnastics at the 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 Olympic Games, and won a silver medal in Men's Team. In the 1983 World Champio ...
– pommel horse event final
* Koji Gushiken – rings event final
* Koji Sotomura – rings event final
= Women
=
* Natalia Yurchenko
Natalia Vladimirovna Yurchenko () (born 26 January 1965) is a retired Soviet Union, Soviet artistic gymnast, who won the women's all-around gold medal at the 1983 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, 1983 World Championships. Renowned for he ...
– team optional vault, team optional balance beam, all around vault, all around floor exercise
* Olga Mostepanova – team optional vault, all around vault, floor exercise event final
* Olga Bicherova – team optional vault
* Lavinia Agache – team optional uneven bars
* Ecaterina Szabo – team optional uneven bars, team optional floor exercise, all around vault, all around floor exercise, floor exercise event final
* Mirela Barbălată – team optional vault
* Maxi Gnauck – team optional uneven bars, all around uneven bars, uneven bars event final
1985 World Championships
= Men
=
* Tong Fei – team optional high bar
= Women
=
* Olga Mostepanova – team compulsory balance beam
* Oksana Omelianchik – team optional floor exercise, floor exercise event final
* Yelena Shushunova – team optional floor exercise
* Gabriele Fähnrich – team compulsory uneven bars
* Daniela Silivaș – balance beam event final
1987 World Championships
= Men
=
* Xu Zhiqiang – team optional parallel bars
* Lou Yun – team optional floor exercise, floor exercise event final
* Sylvio Kroll – team optional vault, all around vault
* Yuri Korolev
Yuri Nikolayevich Korolyov (; 25 August 1962 – 29 April 2023) was a Soviet artistic gymnast who competed during the 1980s, winning many World and European Medals. Part of a deep Soviet team that, throughout the 1980s, featured such names as ...
– all around vault
= Women
=
* Aurelia Dobre – team optional vault, team optional balance beam, team optional floor exercise, all around vault, balance beam event final
* Daniela Silivaș – team compulsory balance beam, team compulsory floor exercise, team optional uneven bars, team optional floor exercise, floor exercise event final
* Camelia Voinea – team optional floor exercise
* Eugenia Golea – team optional vault
* Yelena Shushunova – team compulsory vault, team compulsory floor exercise, team optional floor exercise, all around floor exercise, floor exercise event final
* Dörte Thümmler – team optional uneven bars
* Gabriele Fähnrich – team optional uneven bars
* Fan Di – team optional uneven bars
1989 World Championships
= Men
=
* Valentin Mogilny – team optional pommel horse, all around pommel horse, pommel horse event final
= Women
=
* Natalia Laschenova – team optional vault, all around vault, all around uneven bars
* Svetlana Boginskaya – team optional uneven bars, team optional floor exercise, all around vault, all around floor exercise, floor exercise event final
* Olesya Dudnik – team compulsory floor exercise, team optional vault, team optional balance beam
* Daniela Silivaș – team compulsory vault, team optional uneven bars, team optional floor exercise, uneven bars event final, floor exercise event final
* Cristina Bontaș – all around floor exercise
* Fan Di – uneven bars event final
1991 World Championships
= Women
=
* Kim Zmeskal – team optional vault
* Kim Gwang-Suk – uneven bars event final
European Championships
1967 European Championships
= Women
=
* Věra Čáslavská – balance beam event final, floor exercise event final
1977 European Championships
= Women
=
* Nadia Comăneci – balance beam event final
1981 European Championships
= Women
=
* Maxi Gnauck – uneven bars event final
1985 European Championships
= Women
=
* Yelena Shushunova – all around vault
* Oksana Omelianchik – floor exercise event final
1987 European Championships
= Women
=
* Daniela Silivaș – all around floor exercise, floor exercise event final
1989 European Championships
= Women
=
* Svetlana Boginskaya – all around floor exercise, floor exercise event final
* Olga Strazheva – all around uneven bars
* Daniela Silivaș – floor exercise event final
1990 European Championships
= Women
=
* Svetlana Boginskaya – all around vault, balance beam event final, floor exercise event final, vault event final.
U.S. National Championships
1984 National Championships
= Men
=
* Mitch Gaylord – all around optional high bar
= Women
=
* Mary Lou Retton
Mary Lou Retton (born January 24, 1968) is an American retired gymnast. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the individual all-around competition, as well as two silver medals and two bronze medals.
Retton's per ...
– all around optional vault, floor exercise event final
1988 National Championships
= Men
=
* Dan Hayden – all around compulsory parallel bars
1990 National Championships
= Men
=
* Bill Roth – all around optional high bar
1992 National Championships
= Women
=
* Kim Zmeskal – all around optional vault
U.S. Olympic Trials
1984 Olympic Trials
= Men
=
* Peter Vidmar – optional high bar
* Mitch Gaylord – optional parallel bars
* Bart Conner – compulsory parallel bars
1988 Olympic Trials
= Women
=
* Rhonda Faehn – optional vault
* Joyce Wilborn – compulsory vault
1992 Olympic Trials
= Women
=
* Kim Zmeskal – optional vault
Moscow News/World Stars
1979 Moscow News
= Women
=
* Stella Zakharova – all around floor exercise
1988 Moscow News
= Women
=
* Yelena Shushunova – all around balance beam
1989 Moscow News
= Women
=
* Svetlana Boginskaya – all around vault
* Yulia Kut – uneven bars event final
1991 World Stars
= Men
=
* Sergey Kharkov – all around high bar
* Valeri Liukin – all around rings
1992 World Stars
= Women
=
* Tatiana Gutsu – all around uneven bars
American Cup
New York City 1976
= Women
=
* Nadia Comăneci – team optional vault, all around floor exercise
New York City 1980
= Men
=
* Kurt Thomas – all around high bar
New York City 1984
= Men
=
* Peter Vidmar – all around pommel horse
= Women
=
* Mary Lou Retton
Mary Lou Retton (born January 24, 1968) is an American retired gymnast. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the individual all-around competition, as well as two silver medals and two bronze medals.
Retton's per ...
– team optional floor exercise, all around vault
* Julianne McNamara – team optional uneven bars, all around uneven bars
Orlando 1991
= Women
=
* Kim Zmeskal – all around floor exercise
* Betty Okino – all around vault
Orlando 1992
= Men
=
* Scott Keswick – all around rings
European Cup
1988 European Cup
= Women
=
* Yelena Shevchenko – all around floor exercise
DTB Cup
1984 DTB Cup
= Women
=
* Maxi Gnauck – all around uneven bars, all around floor exercise, uneven bars event final, floor exercise event final
1987 DTB Cup
= Men
=
* Nicusor Pascu – all around high bar
1988 DTB Cup
= Men
=
* Marius Gherman – all around high bar
= Women
=
* Svetlana Boginskaya – all around vault
1989 DTB Cup
= Women
=
* Natalia Lashchenova – all around vault
Cottbus International
1984 Cottbus International
= Women
=
* Maxi Gnauck – all around floor exercise
* Gabriele Fähnrich – all around uneven bars
1985 Cottbus International
= Women
=
* Maxi Gnauck – floor exercise event final
1992 Cottbus International
= Women
=
* Henrietta Ónodi – floor exercise event final
World Cup
1979 World Cup
= Women
=
* Nadia Comăneci – all around floor exercise, floor exercise event final
* Stella Zakharova – floor exercise event final
1982 World Cup
= Men
=
* Li Ning – all around high bar
1986 World Cup
= Women
=
* Yelena Shushunova – all around vault
Tokyo Cup
1985 Tokyo Cup
= Women
=
* Ulrike Klotz – floor exercise event final
1988 Tokyo Cup
= Women
=
* Daniela Silivaș – uneven bars event final, floor exercise event final
* Svetlana Ivanova – floor exercise event final
Chunichi Cup
1976 Chunichi Cup
= Women
=
* Nadia Comăneci – all around uneven bars, all around floor exercise
1988 Chunichi Cup
= Women
=
* Daniela Silivaș – floor exercise event final
* Svetlana Boginskaya – floor exercise event final
University Games
1987 University Games
= Women
=
* Yelena Shushunova – all around uneven bars, all around balance beam, all around floor exercise
"Meta-Perfect" Scores of 20, 30, and 40
Although virtually hundreds of perfect scores of 10 were given at various levels of competition throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, "meta-perfect" scores of 20, 30, or 40 were much, much more rare. A "meta-perfect" score would be an instance where a gymnast received multiple perfect scores of 10 throughout a competition on an apparatus (culminating in an official "meta-perfect" score of 20 in the Event Finals, depending upon the era and competition), or on every apparatus in a segment of a competition (which would result in an official "meta-perfect" score of 60 for a male gymnast or 40 for female gymnast, depending upon the era and competition).
Three possible scenarios in which to create a "meta-perfect score", that have occurred, would then be: 1) to achieve perfect 10s on every apparatus throughout a segment of a competition (Team Compulsories, Team Optionals, or All-Around) which would post an official "meta-perfect" score of either 60 for the men or 40 for the women, depending upon the era and competition; 2) to achieve perfect 10s on all performances on an apparatus throughout every segment of a competition (Team Compulsories, Optionals, All-around, and Event Finals), which would officially post a "meta-perfect" score of 20 in Event Finals, depending upon the era and competition; and 3) to achieve perfect 10s on all optionals performances on an apparatus (team optionals, all-around (if competed in), event finals), which might or might not post an official "meta-perfect" score, depending upon the competition and era – but this is a possibly necessary scenario to articulate because perfect scores of 10 were given much less often to compulsory routines than to optional routines, for a number of reasons. Olga Mostepanova seems to have been the only gymnast to do #1 at a major international competition. Svetlana Boginskaya, Nadia Comăneci, Maxi Gnauck, Olga Mostepanova, and Daniela Silivaș are women who have done this more than once. Dmitry Bilozerchev has done this probably more (4) times than any other man.
No score of "30" (listed several times below) would ever have been an officially posted score to designate "meta-perfection" on an apparatus. This is merely a designation of either 1) "meta-perfection" on an apparatus in both phases of the team competition (compulsories and optionals) as well as event finals, but not in the all-around, and this is worth articulating relative to listed "meta-perfect" scores of 40 because the gymnast in question might not have qualified to the all-around, therefore no opportunity to achieve a theoretical "meta-perfect" score of 40/40; OR 2) "meta-perfection" on all optionals performance on an apparatus (see scenario #3, above).
Olympics
1976 Olympics
* Nadia Comăneci – 40/40 on Uneven Bars (every segment of the competition), 30/40 on Balance Beam (all optional routines – Team Optionals, All-Around, Event Finals)
1984 Olympics
* Ma Yanhong – 30/40 on Uneven Bars (all optional routines – Team Optionals, All-Around, Event Finals)
* Julianne McNamara – 30/40 on Uneven Bars (all optional routines – Team Optionals, All-Around, Event Finals)
* Shinji Morisue – 30/30 on Horizontal Bar (Team Compulsories, Team Optionals, Event Finals; he did not compete in the all-around, so no opportunity to achieve 40/40, but he did get a 10 every time he competed on the apparatus)
1988 Olympics
* Dmitry Bilozerchev – 30/40 on Pommel Horse (all optional routines – Team Optionals, All-Around, Event Finals)
* Daniela Silivaș – 40/40 on Uneven Bars (every segment of the competition)
Alternate Olympics
Olomouc 1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
* Dmitry Bilozerchev – 30/40 on Pommel Horse (all optional routines – Team Optionals, All-Around, Event Finals), 30/40 on Horizontal Bar (all optional routines – Team Optionals, All-Around, Event Finals)
* Maxi Gnauck – 30/40 on Uneven Bars (in Team Compulsories, Team Optionals, and Event Finals; not a 10 in the All-Around, but a 10 in both segments of the team competition that carried over to Event Finals where Gnauck also got another 10 to create a "meta-perfect" score)
* Olga Mostepanova – 40/40 in the All-Around (all 4 apparatuses), 40/40 on Balance Beam (in every segment of the competition), 30/40 on Floor Exercise (all optional routines – Team Optionals, All-Around, Event Finals)
World Championships
1934 Worlds
* Eugen Mack – 20/20 on Vault (exact details unknown but all of the highest scores in the competition were in the 18s and 19s, and his was the only 20)
1981 Worlds
* Artur Akopyan – 20/30 on Horizontal Bar (both optional routines in Team Optionals and Event Finals – did not compete All-Around)
* Aleksandr Tkachyov (Tkachev) – 20/30 (both optional routines in Team Optionals and Event Finals – did not compete All-Around)
1983 Worlds
* Vladimir Artemov – 20/30 on Parallel Bars (both optional routines – Team Optionals, Event Finals – did not compete All-Around)
* Dmitry Bilozerchev – 30/40 on Pommel Horse (not in the All-Around, but in both Team Compulsories and Team Optionals which carried over to Event Finals where he also got a 10, creating a "meta-perfect" score)
* Maxi Gnauck – 30/40 on Uneven Bars (all optional routines – Team Optionals, All-Around, Event Finals)
* Ekaterina Szabo – 30/40 on Floor Exercise (all optional routines – Team Optionals, All-Around, Event Finals)
1987 Worlds
* Yelena Shushunova – 40/40 on Floor Exercise (in every segment of the competition)
* Daniela Silivaș – 30/40 on Floor Exercise (not in the All-Around, but in both Team Compulsories and Team Optionals which carried over to Event Finals where she got also got a 10, creating a "meta-perfect" score)
1989 Worlds
* Svetlana Boginskaya – 30/40 on Floor Exercise (all optional routines – Team Optionals, All-Around, Event Finals)
* Valentin Mogilny – 30/40 on Pommel Horse (all optionals routines – Team Optionals, All-Around, Floor Exercise)
World Cup
1979 World Cup
* Nadia Comăneci – 20/20 on Floor Exercise (All-Around and Event Finals)
European Championships
1987 Europeans
* Daniela Silivaș – 20/20 on Floor Exercise (in both the All-Around and Event Finals)
1989 Europeans
* Svetlana Boginskaya – 20/20 on Floor Exercise (in both the All-Around and Event Finals)
American Cup
1976 American Cup
* Nadia Comăneci – 20/20 on Vault (in both the Preliminaries and All-Around)
1984 American Cup
* Julianne McNamara – 20/20 on Uneven Bars (in both the Preliminaries and All-Around)
DTB Cup
1984 DTB Cup
* Maxi Gnauck – 20/20 on Uneven Bars (All-Around and Event Finals), 20/20 on Floor Exercise (All-Around and Event Finals)
See also
* List of highest historical scores in figure skating
A list is a Set (mathematics), set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of t ...
References
{{Nadia Comăneci
Gymnastics
Perfect scores in sports