The venue for the artistic gymnastics will be the North Greenwich Arena (or O2 Arena, pictured). 196 men and women, representing 55 countries will compete in the event.
Yang Wei is the defending Olympic champion in the men's all around, an event that has been dominated by Alberto Braglia, Viktor Chukarin and the legendary Sawao Kato, who have two wins each. Yang could join those three with a gold medal effort. Zou Kai could tie Nikolai Andrianov for most wins at two in the floor exercise. Zou is also the defending champion in the horizontal bar, and could tie Takashi Ono and MItsuo Tsukahara for most wins in that event with two. Li Xiaopeng could break the mold in the parallel bars, an event that he shares the most wins with Kato at two. Xiao Qin could join Boris Shaklin, Miroslav Cerar and Zoltan Magyar for most wins at two in the pommel horse, while Chen Yibing could do the same thing in the rings. Albert Azaryan and Akimori Nakayama have two wins in the rings-most in that event.
On the women's side, Nastia Liukin is the defending Olympic champion in the individual all-around, and a possible second win could tie Vera Caslavska and Larysa Latynina with most wins in that event. The legendary Nadia Comaneci's two wins in the balance beam is the most in that event, despite the fact that it was announced that defending Olympic champion Shawn Johnson is retiring from the sport. He Kexin could join Polina Astakhova and Svetlana Khorkina in most wins in uneven bars with two each, while Hong Un Jong could join Caslavska with most wins in the vault with two each.
This concludes the events preview; up next: the updated flag bearers!
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