These Incredible Photos Show Just How Much Olympic Gymnastics Has Evolved

After being delayed for an entire year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Summer Olympic Games are set to get underway in Tokyo on July 23. While all the gymnastics buzz this year seems to surround the unstoppable force that is Simone Biles, we decided to take a look back at some of the other gymnasts who competed in the games over the last century.

Today's Olympic gymnastics program consists of three categories: Artistic (what you're watching when you watch Simone), rhythmic (the one with the ribbons and balls), and trampoline. Artistic gymnastics was introduced as part of the modern Olympic Games when they debuted in 1896 in Athens. Though women started competing in 1928, it was only in teams. It wasn't until the Berlin games in 1936 when women were allowed to compete in an all-around competition.

Currently, for artistic gymnastics, the men compete in six events: parallel bars, horizontal bar, pommel horse, vault, rings and floor. The women compete in four events: vault, balance beam, uneven bars, and floor. In 1952, the Olympics added separate medals for each apparatus. At the Los Angeles games in 1984, rhythmic gymnastics was added to the mix, and it wasn't until the 2000 Olympic Games that trampoline was included as an Olympic event.

The artistic gymnasts definitely get the most attention, and are the athletes most likely to appear on a Wheaties box. There are definitely a lot of Gen-X women who had their hair cut and feathered like Mary Lou Retton's after her big win in 1984. But no matter who your fave is, you can see here how the sport has changed and adapted through the years.