Team vs. Individual All-Around in Olympic Gymnastics: What’s the Difference?
Olympic gymnastics awards two titles that involve every event: the team title and the individual all-around title. They sound alike, and TV coverage often mixes them up, but they are scored in very different ways.
Contents
In the individual all-around, one gymnast competes on every event and every score is added together: four for women, six for men. Nothing is dropped. In the team competition, five gymnasts share the events. Not everyone competes on everything, and the number of scores that count depends on the round.
This guide explains both formats as they ran at the Paris 2024 Olympics and as they are set for Los Angeles 2028, with real Paris scores to show the math. It covers senior Olympic gymnastics under the rules of World Gymnastics (formerly FIG). College and club gymnastics count team scores differently.
Team vs. All-Around at a Glance
| Individual all-around | Team competition | |
|---|---|---|
| Who competes | One gymnast | A team of 5 (no reserves) |
| Events | Every event: 4 for women, 6 for men | Every event for the team, but not every gymnast does every event |
| Qualification round | All of the gymnast’s scores are added | Up to 4 compete on each event; best 3 count |
| Final | 24 gymnasts, maximum 2 per country | 8 teams |
| Scores that count in the final | Every event | 3 compete on each event; all 3 count |
| Do qualification scores carry over? | No | No |
The counting rules come from the FIG Technical Regulations 2026 (Art. 5.1.2–5.1.4, pp. 65–66). Those articles are written for the World Championships, and the Olympics use the same provisions “with a few exceptions” (Art. 2.2.1). The team of five comes from the LA28 Artistic Gymnastics Qualification System (version of 3 June 2026).
How the Individual All-Around Works
The all-around asks one gymnast to be good at everything. Women compete on vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Men compete on floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and high bar. The events differ, and so does the way men’s and women’s routines are judged, but the all-around adds up the same way for both.
Each routine gets its own score: a difficulty score (the D-score) plus an execution score (the E-score), minus any penalties. Our guide to how FIG gymnastics scoring works explains each part.
The all-around total is then simple addition. The women’s Code of Points defines it as the sum of the final scores on the four apparatus (WAG Code of Points 2025–2028, Sec. 6.2, p. 20). The men’s Code says the same for six (MAG Code of Points 2025–2028, Art. 6.2, p. 14).
Vault has one extra rule. Gymnasts aiming for the vault final do two vaults in qualification, but only the first counts toward the all-around and team totals (Technical Regulations 2026, Art. 5.1.2). Our guide to gymnastics vault scoring covers the two-vault average.
Getting into the all-around final
Every gymnast who competes on all the events in qualification gets an all-around ranking. The top 24 reach the all-around final, with a maximum of two per country (Art. 5.1.4). Scores don’t carry over, so everyone starts the final from zero.
The two-per-country rule can leave a top gymnast at home. In Paris, Jordan Chiles placed fourth in the all-around qualification with 56.065. Simone Biles (59.566) and Sunisa Lee (56.132) had already taken the two U.S. places, so Chiles did not compete in the final (official all-around qualification results).
A real example: the Paris 2024 women’s all-around final
These are the top four from the women’s all-around final on 1 August 2024 (official results):
| Gymnast | Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simone Biles (USA) | 15.766 | 13.733 | 14.566 | 15.066 | 59.131 (gold) |
| Rebeca Andrade (BRA) | 15.100 | 14.666 | 14.133 | 14.033 | 57.932 (silver) |
| Sunisa Lee (USA) | 13.933 | 14.866 | 14.000 | 13.666 | 56.465 (bronze) |
| Alice D’Amato (ITA) | 14.000 | 14.800 | 14.033 | 13.500 | 56.333 (4th) |
Each row adds up to its total. For Biles, 15.766 + 13.733 + 14.566 + 15.066 = 59.131. Her bars score was her lowest of the night and lower than Andrade’s, Lee’s or D’Amato’s, but it still went into her total. The bronze came down to 0.132 between Lee and D’Amato, with all four events counting.
Men add six scores
With six events, men’s all-around totals land in the 80s. Shinnosuke Oka of Japan won the Paris 2024 title with 86.832, ahead of China’s Zhang Boheng on 86.599 (official results).
Zhang’s weakest event was floor, where he scored 13.233. If each man’s lowest score had been dropped, Zhang would have come out ahead, 73.366 to 72.966. That’s a hypothetical calculation, not a rule. In the real final, all six scores counted and Oka took gold.
Where the “top three scores” idea comes from
There is one situation where a score is set aside: a tie. At Paris 2024, if two gymnasts finished level in the all-around, the first tie-breaker was the total of their best three apparatus scores for women, or best five for men. If they were still level, the higher total E-score won, then the higher total D-score, and after that they shared the place (Paris 2024 official results book, competition format pages). The 2026 Technical Regulations keep the same order (Section 2, Art. 7).
A tie-breaker of this kind decided an Olympic medal at London 2012. Aly Raisman and Russia’s Aliya Mustafina tied for bronze on 59.566. The rule then subtracted each gymnast’s lowest score, which favored Mustafina and left Raisman fourth (NBC Sports). Without a tie, every score counts.
How the Olympic Team Competition Works
Olympic teams have five gymnasts, for women and for men. Teams grew from four at Tokyo 2020 to five at Paris 2024, and LA28 keeps five: each country can enter at most one team of five athletes, with no reserves (LA28 Qualification System, p. 2; Paris 2024 results book). Men’s teams are the same size as women’s.
The team doesn’t need all five gymnasts on every event. Coaches choose a lineup for each apparatus, so an all-arounder may compete everywhere while a specialist competes on one or two events.
Qualification: four up, three count
In qualification, up to four gymnasts from each team compete on each apparatus, and the three highest scores count toward the team total (Technical Regulations 2026, Art. 5.1.2). The lowest score is the “drop score,” which protects a team against one bad routine.
Here is how the U.S. women did it in Paris, where they qualified first with 172.296 (official team qualification results). Scores in brackets were dropped. A dash means the gymnast didn’t compete on that event.
| Gymnast | Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simone Biles | 15.800 | 14.433 | 14.733 | 14.600 |
| Jade Carey | 14.666 | – | – | (10.633) |
| Jordan Chiles | 14.333 | 14.266 | 13.600 | 13.866 |
| Sunisa Lee | (14.133) | 14.866 | 14.033 | 13.100 |
| Hezly Rivera | – | (13.900) | (12.633) | – |
| Best three | 44.799 | 43.565 | 42.366 | 41.566 |
Carey’s 10.633 on floor was the team’s lowest score of the day, but it cost nothing because it was the drop score. Biles, Chiles and Lee did all four events, which also put them in the all-around ranking above. Carey and Rivera did two events each.
The top eight teams from qualification go through to the team final (Art. 5.1.3).
Team final: three up, three count
The team final is less forgiving. Only three gymnasts per team compete on each apparatus, and all three scores count (Art. 5.1.3). With no drop score, a fall goes straight into the total. Qualification scores are wiped, and every team starts from zero.
These are the U.S. women’s gold-medal scores from the Paris team final, highest score first on each event (official team final results):
| Event | Gymnasts and scores | Event total |
|---|---|---|
| Vault | Biles 14.900, Carey 14.800, Chiles 14.400 | 44.100 |
| Bars | Lee 14.566, Biles 14.400, Chiles 14.366 | 43.332 |
| Beam | Lee 14.600, Biles 14.366, Chiles 12.733 | 41.699 |
| Floor | Biles 14.666, Chiles 13.966, Lee 13.533 | 42.165 |
| Team total | 171.296 |
Chiles’ 12.733 on beam was the lowest U.S. score of the final, and under three up, three count it had to stay in. The team still won by almost six points over Italy (165.494), with Brazil third (164.497), as USA Gymnastics reported. Rivera, the fifth team member, didn’t compete in the final at all.
A women’s team-final total adds 12 routines (three on each of four events). A men’s total adds 18 (three on each of six). Teams move through the events in Olympic order (women: vault, bars, beam, floor; men: floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars, high bar), but they don’t all start on the same event (NBC Olympics format guide).
College and club meets use different counting rules. Our guide to how gymnastics team scores are calculated compares them.
How the Two Competitions Fit Together
Both competitions begin in the same qualification round. One routine can count in three ways at once: toward the team total, toward the gymnast’s all-around ranking, and toward the gymnast’s ranking on that apparatus for the event finals.
After qualification, the finals are separate competitions. The Olympic programme runs qualifications, then the team final, the all-around final and the apparatus finals (Technical Regulations 2026, Art. 2.2.1.1). It follows the World Championships rules described here. The exceptions are the number of gymnasts and the format of the qualifications and apparatus finals, which the Olympic Qualification System can set separately (Section 2, Art. 4.1). Each final starts from zero (Art. 5.1.3–5.1.5). The apparatus finals take the top eight gymnasts on each event, again with a maximum of two per country (Art. 5.1.5), and have nothing to do with the team or all-around totals.
You don’t need a team to compete for the all-around title. Gymnasts from countries without a qualified team enter as individuals, and if they compete on every event in qualification they are ranked for the all-around final like everyone else. Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour, who competed in Paris as an individual, finished fifth in the all-around final with 55.899 (official results). Under the LA28 rules, a country without a team can send up to three individual gymnasts, who may not compete as a team (LA28 Qualification System, p. 2).
How Team and Individual Places Are Earned for LA28
The LA28 Qualification System divides the places into team spots and individual spots. The men’s and women’s competitions each have 96 gymnasts: 94 qualified places, one host-country place and one universality place (LA28 Qualification System, pp. 2–10).
| Route | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 World Championships (17–25 Oct 2026): top 3 teams | 3 teams (15 gymnasts) | 3 teams (15) |
| 2027 World Championships (28 Sep – 6 Oct 2027): next 9 teams | 9 teams (45) | 9 teams (45) |
| 2027 Worlds: best 3 countries without a team, one gymnast each | 3 | 3 |
| 2027 Worlds: all-around ranking | 14 | 8 |
| 2027 Worlds: best eligible gymnast in each apparatus final | 4 | 6 |
| 2028 Apparatus World Cup series: top 2 eligible per apparatus | 8 | 12 |
| 2028 continental championships: one all-arounder per continent | 5 | 5 |
| Host country and universality | 2 | 2 |
| Total | 96 | 96 |
That puts 60 gymnasts of each gender in teams of five and 36 in the competition as individuals. Most individual places are earned by a named gymnast. The three places from the 2027 team ranking go to the country rather than to a named gymnast (pp. 4–8).
Common Questions
How many gymnasts are on an Olympic gymnastics team?
Five, for both women and men, with no reserves. That was the format at Paris 2024 and is set again for LA28. Tokyo 2020 used teams of four.
Does every team member compete on every event?
No. In qualification up to four of the five compete on each event, and in the team final only three do. In Paris, Hezly Rivera competed on bars and beam in qualification and didn’t compete in the final.
Do all the scores count in the all-around final?
Yes. The all-around total is the sum of every apparatus score. At Paris 2024, setting aside the lowest score only came into play to break a tie.
Can three gymnasts from one country make the all-around final?
No. The limit is two per country, even if a third gymnast ranks in the top 24.
The Short Version
The individual all-around rewards one gymnast for being strong everywhere. Every event counts, so a weak routine can’t be hidden. The team competition rewards depth: five gymnasts share the events, the lowest of four scores is dropped in qualification, and in the team final all three gymnasts on each event have to deliver.