The purpose of this chapter is to review the extant literature on the epidemiology of injury in Olympic gymnastics. Comparison of study results was compromised due to such factors as diversity of study population, variability of injury definitions, and changes to equipment and rules over the years. Data on male Artistic Gymnastics, Rhythmic Gymnastics, and Trampoline Gymnastics were lacking. Notwithstanding, this review reveals a reasonably consistent picture of gymnastics injuries, particularly Women's Artistic Gymnastics.

Injury rates among women's artistic gymnasts are relatively high compared to other sports. The knee, ankle, and lower back are the most commonly injured anatomical locations. Although most injuries are relatively minor, the severity of injury appears to be high, especially among advanced level gymnasts. Catastrophic injuries appear to be an infrequent occurrence; however, the relative frequency of this injury type appears to be high compared to other high school and college sports.

Preliminary analysis of risk factors suggests that periods of rapid growth, history of previous injury, excessive life stress, and advanced levels of training and competition may be associated with increased risk of gymnastics injury.

The importance of establishing national injury surveillance systems to obtain an accurate picture of injury risk and severity and as a basis for testing risk factors and implementing preventive measures is emphasized. We feel there is an ethical imperative for gymnastics governing bodies to provide incentive and guidance for epidemiological research in all forms of Olympic gymnastics and for a Federation International de Gymnastique (FIG) consensus statement that identifies injury definitions and research methodology to ensure consistency and comparability of results in epidemiological studies examining injury in gymnastics.