Iron cross (gymnastics)

{{Short description|Gymnastics skill}}

File:Competitions in gymnastics at the Olympics 2016. Discipline - rings. 01 (cropped).jpg performs an iron cross during his gold medal routine at the 2016 Olympics]]

File:Unidentified gymnast - DPLA - b6e4a6bf8c50824cd076a44c89329d91.jpg

File:2019-06-29 1st FIG Artistic Gymnastics JWCH Men's Apparatus finals Still rings (Martin Rulsch) 140.jpg

File:2019-06-29 1st FIG Artistic Gymnastics JWCH Men's Apparatus finals Still rings (Martin Rulsch) 198.jpg

An iron cross, also known as a crucifix{{cite book

|pages=94–95

|title=Men's gymnastics

|last1=Fukushima

|first1=Sho

|last2=Russell

|first2=Wrio

|publisher=Faber & Faber

|date=1980

|isbn=0-571-11478-4

}} or cross,{{cite book

|page=76

|title=Gymnastics

|last1=Tatlow

|first1=Peter

|publisher=Lyric Books Limited

|date=1979

|isbn=0-07-0935351

}} is a gymnastics skill on the rings in which the body is suspended upright while the arms are extended laterally, forming the shape of the Christian cross. It is a move that requires significant shoulder and bicep tendon strength.

The International Gymnastics Federation Code of Points refers to the skill as a cross and lists it as a "B" difficulty value strength hold element.{{cite web |title=FIG - Discipline |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/pages/disciplines/ele-mag.php |website=www.gymnastics.sport |publisher=Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique |access-date=18 March 2021}}{{cite book

|page=86

|title=2022 – 2024 Code of Points:Men's Artistic Gymnastics

|url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/publicdir/rules/files/en_%202022-2024%20MAG%20CoP.pdf#page=89

|author=Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique

|publisher=FIG Executive Committee

|date=February 2020

}}

Variants

Variations of the iron cross listed in the FIG Code of Points include:

  • L cross (B difficulty): the cross is performed with the body held in an L-sit position.
  • V cross (C difficulty): the cross is performed with the body in a tight piked position and the legs held vertically.
  • Inverted cross (C difficulty): the cross is performed in an inverted (upside down) position.
  • Maltese cross or swallow (D difficulty): the gymnast holds his body parallel to the ground at ring height with arms extended laterally.
  • Victorian cross or inverted swallow (E difficulty): an inverted Maltese cross, with the body held parallel to the ground and facing up.

See also

References

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