--- title: Here Are 8 Bizarre Yet Beautiful Photos of Women's Rhythmic Gymnastics description: Rhythmic gymnasts take flexibility to new levels, wrapping their bodies around ribbons, clubs, balls and hoops. canonical: https://time.com/3181741/gymnastics-2014-youth-olympic-games/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-26T17:42:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:07:49.434Z article:section: Health og:title: Here Are 8 Bizarre Yet Beautiful Photos of Women's Rhythmic Gymnastics og:description: Rhythmic gymnasts take flexibility to new levels, wrapping their bodies around ribbons, clubs, balls and hoops. og:url: https://time.com/3181741/gymnastics-2014-youth-olympic-games/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a7a51ac3ce9a45c/6986a0ec361760ee0c90d9a4/olympic-rhythmic-gymnastics-06.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: competes in Rhythmic Gymnastics Individual All-Around Qualification on day ten of the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games at Nanjing OSC Gymnasium on Aug. 26, 2014 in Nanjing. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here Are 8 Bizarre Yet Beautiful Photos of Women's Rhythmic Gymnastics twitter:description: Rhythmic gymnasts take flexibility to new levels, wrapping their bodies around ribbons, clubs, balls and hoops. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a7a51ac3ce9a45c/6986a0ec361760ee0c90d9a4/olympic-rhythmic-gymnastics-06.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here Are 8 Bizarre Yet Beautiful Photos of Women's Rhythmic Gymnastics > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Aug 26, 2014 5:42 PM UTC  Shannon Gardiner of South Africa competes in Rhythmic Gymnastics Individual All-Around Qualification on day ten of the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games at Nanjing OSC Gymnasium on Aug. 26, 2014 in Nanjing. Shannon Gardiner of South Africa competes in Rhythmic Gymnastics Individual All-Around Qualification on day ten of the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games at Nanjing OSC Gymnasium on Aug. 26, 2014 in Nanjing. Feng Li—Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Aug 26, 2014 5:42 PM UTC Gymnasts are known for their incredible flexibility, but rhythmic gymnasts take it to new levels, wrapping their bodies around ribbons, clubs, balls and hoops—all with a dazzling smile. The secret to their rubber-band like contortions? Hours and hours of training, including more time spent in splits—hanging from bars or stretched across foam blocks—than the rest of us would consider humane. These athletes, competing at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China, represent the eight top-scoring qualifiers in mind-bending acrobatic routines in the individual all-around finals.  Shannon Gardiner of South Africa competes in Rhythmic Gymnastics Individual All-Around Qualification on day ten of the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games at Nanjing OSC Gymnasium on Aug. 26, 2014 in Nanjing. Feng Li—Getty Images  Irina Annenkova of Russia competes in Rhythmic Gymnastics Individual All-Around Qualification on day ten of the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games at Nanjing OSC Gymnasium on Aug. 26, 2014 in Nanjing. Ahmad Yusni—EPA  Irina Annenkova of Russia competes in Rhythmic Gymnastics Individual All-Around Qualification on day ten of the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games at Nanjing OSC Gymnasium on Aug. 26, 2014 in Nanjing. Ahmad Yusni—EPA  Laura Zeng of the United States competes in Rhythmic Gymnastics Individual All-Around Qualification on day ten of the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games at Nanjing OSC Gymnasium on Aug. 26, 2014 in Nanjing. Feng Li—Getty Images  Irina Annenkova of Russia competes in Rhythmic Gymnastics Individual All-Around Qualification on day ten of the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games at Nanjing OSC Gymnasium on Aug. 26, 2014 in Nanjing. Feng Li—Getty Images  Laura Zeng of the United States competes in Rhythmic Gymnastics Individual All-Around Qualification on day ten of the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games at Nanjing OSC Gymnasium on Aug. 26, 2014 in Nanjing. Feng Li—Getty Images  Takana Tatsuzawa of Japan competes in Rhythmic Gymnastics Individual All-Around Qualification on day ten of the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games at Nanjing OSC Gymnasium on Aug. 26, 2014 in Nanjing. Feng Li—Getty Images  Takana Tatsuzawa of Japan competes in Rhythmic Gymnastics Individual All-Around Qualification on day ten of the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games at Nanjing OSC Gymnasium on Aug. 26, 2014 in Nanjing. 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