Rhythmic Gymnastics at the 1984 Summer Olympics

Rhythmic gymnastics made its début on the Olympic Program in 1984, but World Championships in rhythmic gymnastics had been held since 1963. But in effect, this sport had been contested at the Olympics prior to 1984. In 1952 and 1956, women competed in a team combined exercises event and a fifth event was added for the team, portable apparatus event. But this event was a group competition in rhythmic gymnastics as the gymnasts performed with ball, ribbon, and hoop. The 1984 Olympic rhythmic competition was severely devalued by the Soviet-led boycott, as the top six finishers, and 8 of the leaders, at the 1983 World Championships were not present at Los Angeles. Wallechinsky has noted, “Rhythmic gymnastics has a reputation as one of the joke sports of the Olympics, included in the program to please a limited constituency.”