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I was watching men's gymnastics the other day *hmmm, wonders if maybe all those super-buff male bodies, muscles all pumped, groaning and grunting had something to do with it?* Anyway, there I was, enjoying it. Then I noticed all the straps and bandages the guys had on (modern HD tellys show everything ). And when a gymnast landed awkwardly it was obvious it hurt. Then I realized maybe some of those grunts and groans might be pain. And then I stopped enjoying it. I've just had a look around on Google. Seems there's a particular problem with "stick" landings. Here are just a couple of bits I found: Biomechanics of Sport and Exercise (2nd ed 2005), Peter McGinnis "Research funded in part by the United States Olympic Committee and the United States Gymnastic Association is concerned with the impact forces gymnasts experience when landing from stunts and what strategies they use to reduce these forces (cited 1991, 1993, 1994). Judges award higher points to gymnasts who "stick" their landings. But such landings may involve greater and more dangerous forces. These forces are the cause of overuse injuries in many gymnasts. A landing in which the gymnast flexes the knees, hips and ankles may reduce these impact forces but it also results in a lower score." http://books.google.... injury&f=false This book also went on to to say: "One outcome of this research has been new rules allowing for landing strategies that reduce these impact forces without penalty to the gymnast's score" BUT it does not appear to be true that using different landing strategies to avoid the damaging stick landing will not affect the scoring: Dummies.com - Men's Gymnastics Events in the 2012 Summer Olympics "Gymnasts display various grips on the bar and perform giant swings over the bar. All are judged on form and dismount. It's important for gymnasts to keep their bodies straight and their toes pointed during routines and to stick the landings." "Sticking the landing means landing on both feet together without taking any extra steps. Any steps or partial steps incur deductions." "Sticking the landing is very important in the scoring of a still rings routine. Dismounts usually involve some sort of back flip or full-body twist, and landing on both feet together without taking an extra step is particularly difficult. Scoring deductions are given for bad form, ring movement, falls, useless swings, bad dismounts or landings, and timing errors." "Body position is maintained while "popping" the vaulting platform. The gymnast completes multiple twists and somersaults in the air before landing on the far side of the vault. The difficulty of the flips, the strength exhibited, and the ability to stick the landing affect scoring." "Dismount is just a fancy way of saying getting off the equipment. However, the style and difficulty of the flipping, twisting, or body motion the gymnast completes in midair (as well as that sticky landing) affect the start value and deductions awarded." http://www.dummies.c...r-olympics.html coachesinfo.com - article seems to date from 2010 (most recent citation) "Strategy adjustments accommodating inherent physical profiles were found to be essential in ensuring effective load attenuation but were acknowledged as potentially incompatible with current constraints in gymnastic scoring systems." http://www.coachesin...ding&Itemid=295 OK, I know all sports requiring extreme physical performance by top athletes at the highest level have the potential to cause injury - maybe serious long term injuries. But the rules for getting high scores in gymnastics seem to require the gymnasts to land with their legs together and more or less straight. If I wanted to formulate a rule to cause maximum damage to a super fit athlete ... that's the rule and scoring framework I would introduce. And it doesn't give me pleasure to see top athletes providing an "entertainment" that seems designed to cause them physical injury. But what do you think?