
Date of competition: June 22 to 23
Medal events: 8
Athletes: 52
Venue: Minsk Arena
Tokyo 2020 qualification: No
Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which individuals or groups of five or more manipulate one or two pieces of apparatus from rope, hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon and freehand.
It combines elements of ballet, gymnastics, dance and apparatus manipulation.
The victor is the participant who earns the most points, determined by a panel of judges, for leaps, balances, pirouettes, apparatus handling and execution.
The choreography must cover the entire floor and contain a balance of jumps, leaps, pivots, balances - a certain number is required depending on the gymnast's level - and flexibility movements.
Each movement involves a high degree of athletic skill.
Physical abilities needed by a rhythmic gymnast include strength, power, flexibility, agility, dexterity, endurance and hand-eye coordination.
Like the four other gymnastics disciplines, rhythmic will be showcased for the second successive European Games at Minsk 2019.
The programme at Baku 2015 was considered particularly innovative because as well as the three Olympic disciplines of men and women's artistic, rhythmic and trampoline, it also included the non-Olympic disciplines of aerobic and acrobatic on the same one for the first time.