Vault

At a glance

• The modern apparatus is a vaulting table.
• The gymnast contacts the table with both hands.
• Difficulty depends on entry, flight, turns, and saltos.

Player profile. Vaulters turn a short sprint into vertical lift and rapid rotation. They need precise board placement, a forceful and brief block through the shoulders, compact flight mechanics, and enough spatial awareness to open for the landing before the feet reach the mat.

Where it happens

A straight runway leads to a springboard, a padded vaulting table, and a marked landing zone. The apparatus sequence divides the attempt into approach, board contact, first flight, hand support, second flight, and landing, giving judges clear phases in which to assess the announced vault.

• Runway up to about 25 m; apparatus height differs by competition category.

What you need

• Vault table
• Springboard
• Runway
• Landing mats and boundary markings

How to play

1. The gymnast accelerates, hurdles onto the springboard, blocks through the table, performs the selected flight, and lands in the marked zone. Some finals require two different vaults.

The essential rules

1. The run-up may extend to about 25 m in the source format.
2. The gymnast takes off from the springboard before contacting the table.
3. Both hands must contact the vaulting table.
4. The vault ends with a landing on both feet.
5. Gymnasts usually perform two vaults in succession.
6. Each vault receives a difficulty score and an execution score.
7. Judges assess takeoff, landing, flight height, and precision through each phase.
8. The source's compulsory finish is motionless with the feet together.

How the result is decided

Each vault begins with a codified difficulty value and loses execution credit for technical or landing faults. Missing the required hand contact, using an unrecognized action, receiving assistance, or failing the attempt can trigger severe penalties, while boundary steps and falls visibly reduce an otherwise powerful performance.

Fouls and penalties

• No valid table contact
• Fall
• Landing outside zone
• Wrong or unrecognized vault
• Runway violation

Techniques

• Hurdle and board contact
• Powerful table block
• Tucked, piked, or laid-out flight
• Landing absorption

Tactics

• Select difficulty that can be landed.
• Maintain runway consistency.
• Use contrasting vault families when required.

Disciplines and variants

• Men's vault
• Women's vault

Competition landscape

• Olympic Games
• World Artistic Gymnastics Championships

Records in the reference

No stable record table is published here. Records change; use the current governing-body source before acting.

How the sport developed

The book links vaulting with earlier exercises over horse-shaped apparatus. The modern table replaced the narrower horse, offering a larger hand-contact surface, while sprung boards, measured runways, and improved landing areas supported more complex approach styles and safer high-speed inversion.

• The source discusses the Yurchenko family, which begins with a round-off onto the springboard.

Play it in India

• Gymnastics Federation of India is the current organisation reference and is matched to a dated MYAS recognition source. This does not establish local intake, price, schedule or availability.

Organisation reference

Gymnastics Federation of India

Recognition state

MYAS recognition list matched

SAI NCOE discipline rows

No matching centre row found

Khelo India discipline

Not established

Olympic programme

Current · since 1896

India Olympic medals

No sport-level total in current sources

Evidence and currency

This is an original KhelPath explainer assembled from editorial research. It is orientation, not an authoritative rulebook.

FIG rules and technical regulations ↗ · observed 2026-08-28

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