Gymnastics believe it or not has always been as safe as it is now. Gymnasts in the past used to do a lot more dangerous skills because it would result in raising their scores more. However, this was putting them in a lot of danger without them even knowing. The event Vault was one of the most dangerous events in gymnastics. Imagine running full speed at a stationary, beam-like object and having to flip over it. There were no mats that kept the girls safe so if they fell, they were hitting almost concrete from at least six feet above the ground. When mats were introduced, they were kept at the very minimum, and the girls were still in danger but were in less than they originally started off. Some coaches would still not let their gymnasts practice with mats because they wanted to motivate them to not fall on the skill, or the coaches explained that it looked too unprofessional. Later on, the USAG (United States of America Gymnastics) realized that these girls are still not completely safe with the tricks that they were throwing so a number of rules were made to keep the gymnasts safe. For example, there would be no more throwing of hard skills that the USAG deemed were too dangerous and there would be more mats provided for the gymnasts. So, when the gymnast is not perfect and falls, they land on a s
ofter surface. These new rules are in place now but the rate of gymnasts that get hurt is still very high.
The USAG nowadays thinks that the sport is entirely safe now and does not need to be changed anymore. They have done many things that have made sports a lot safer; however, the number of children that are getting hurt is still more than there should be. Things have been done to help the safety of the gymnasts but adding a few mats does not help that much when the gymnast is falling from a bar that is ten feet in the air. The USAG has banned some skills that some more experienced gymnasts have been doing because it is not safe for them to throw. This helped the gymnasts not put themselves in danger just to obtain some extra points. The change also helped gymnasts not land on mats that are four inches, they now land on thicker mats so that they are able to fall more safely. They are also offered mats to slide under the event when they are performing harder skills so that if they miss the skill and do not catch, they are able to land on a thicker mat that does not hurt as bad. However, even with these rules in place, the rate of gymnasts that get hurt is still high. Also, the way that gymnasts land can increase the injury rate, if the gymnast lands short or sideways a mat is not going to save them.