Russians rule rhythmic roost

Clubs are only used in the team competition

Certainly the most elegant of Olympic sports, rhythmic gymnastics is a women-only event and has been described as ballet on a mat.

Rather than performing on an apparatus, rhythmic gymnasts perform with a piece of apparatus. All the events take place on a 13m square floor.

Gymnasts receive individual scores for their routines with a piece of apparatus but the medals are decided on their total score.

The four pieces used are the rope, hoop, ball and ribbon. In addition, during the team event, clubs can be used.

Artistic merit

Three panels of judges monitor the rhythmic gymnastics. They measure the difficulty, artistic merit and execution of a routine.

Artistic marks are awarded for originality, choreography, the choice of apparatus and the musical accompaniment.

The execution judges look for how movements were conducted, how the apparatus was used and the degree of perfection involved.

The technical and the artistic judges mark a routine out of five while the execution judges mark out of 10.

The points are added together to produce a mark, which is then halved to produce a score out of 10.

Things differ for the team event, with more emphasis put on the artistic side of a routine.

The technical judges mark out of four, the artistic judges out of six and the execution judges still mark out of 10. The final score is not halved so it remains a score out of 20.

Gymnasts lose points for errors. For 'slight uncertainties or lack of precision' 0.05 is deducted while 0.10 is taken away for small faults, 0.20 for medium mistakes and 0.30 for major errors.

Points can also be lost should a gymnast step out of the floor area or lose control of the apparatus.

The individual event comprises 24 gymnasts while the team event consists of 10 teams of six members. The highest score in each event wins the gold.

The Brits

Great Britain's' young rhythmic gymnastic teams failed to qualify for Sydney, but the World Championships were their first taste of major international competition and they will benefit from the experience.

Favourite for the individual title is Russia's Alina Kabaeva. Russia are also tipped to win the team competition, although they face pressure from Belarus.