Gymnastics Vault Names: Yurchenko, Cheng, Amanar and More
A gymnastics vault name describes the entry onto the table and the movement after it. A double-twisting Yurchenko has one flip with two twists; a Yurchenko double pike has two flips in a piked shape. Those are different vaults, even though both begin with a Yurchenko entry.
Contents
Use this guide to recognize common names and selected elite examples while watching artistic gymnastics. The difficulty values below come from the 2025–2028 FIG Codes and updates checked on November 4, 2026. They are not USA Gymnastics or NCAA start values, and this is a recognition list rather than a learning sequence.
How to Read a Vault Name
Watch the vault in two parts. The first flight takes the gymnast from the springboard to the table. After brief hand support, the gymnast pushes away into the second flight, which ends at the landing. The push away from the table is commonly called the block.
A salto is a flip without hand support. A twist turns the body around its length. A gymnast can flip and twist at the same time, so those two counts must stay separate.
| Body position | Recognition cue |
|---|---|
| Tuck | The hips and knees bend, drawing the legs toward the body. |
| Pike | The hips bend while the knees stay straight. |
| Layout / stretched | The body is extended through the hips and knees. |
The tuck, pike and layout comparison explains these positions across events. On vault, changing the shape can change the credited vault even when the approach is the same.
Take Yurchenko layout with two twists: “Yurchenko” identifies the entry; “layout” identifies the body shape; “two twists” describes the twisting during one backward salto after the table. The usual abbreviation is DTY, for double-twisting Yurchenko.
A half-twist is 180 degrees and a full twist is 360 degrees. However, “half-on” is not the same as “half-off”: the first describes a turn before table contact, while the second describes a turn in the second flight. Keep the location of a turn attached to its count.
Recognize the Entry Before Counting the Twists
The entry is often easier to recognize at normal speed than the twists. Start there, then watch a replay for body shape and rotation. These are practical viewing descriptions; the official women’s and men’s vault groups use more detailed boundaries.
| Entry | What you see | Useful distinction |
|---|---|---|
| Front handspring | A forward-facing takeoff from the board leads into forward hand support on the table. | There is no roundoff onto the board. |
| Tsukahara | A forward-facing board takeoff is followed by a quarter- to half-turn onto the table and a backward salto off. | The turn happens between board and table. |
| Yurchenko | A roundoff onto the board leads into a back handspring onto the table, then a backward salto. | The gymnast arrives at the board with the back toward the table. |
| Roundoff half-on | A roundoff onto the board is followed by a half-turn onto the table. | The Cheng uses this entry, not the ordinary backward Yurchenko entry. |
Watch a Yurchenko entry
A basic front handspring also takes the gymnast upside down. Calling it a vault “without a salto” does not imply that the gymnast stays upright: the distinction is the absence of an additional unsupported flip after the table.
Women’s Vault Names and Current FIG Values
The table gives selected women’s vaults, their identifying movement and their current difficulty value. Difficulty contributes to the final score; it is not the score awarded for the complete performance. The number before the decimal in a women’s Code entry identifies its group.
| Vault name | What identifies it | Code number | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front handspring | No additional unsupported flip after the table | 1.00 | 1.6 |
| Handspring front tuck | One forward salto, tucked | 2.10 | 3.6 |
| Handspring front pike | One forward salto, piked | 2.20 | 3.8 |
| Chusovitina | Handspring entry; one stretched forward salto with 1½ twists | 2.33 | 5.4 |
| Produnova | Handspring entry; two forward saltos, tucked | 2.50 | 6.0 |
| Tsukahara tuck | Quarter- to half-turn onto the table; one backward salto, tucked | 3.10 | 3.2 |
| Full-twisting layout Tsukahara | Tsukahara entry; one stretched backward salto with one twist | 3.32 | 4.4 |
| Yurchenko tuck | Yurchenko entry; one backward salto, tucked | 4.10 | 3.0 |
| Yurchenko full | Yurchenko entry; one stretched backward salto with one twist | 4.32 | 4.2 |
| Yurchenko 1½ | Yurchenko entry; one stretched backward salto with 1½ twists | 4.33 | 4.6 |
| Double-twisting Yurchenko (DTY) | Yurchenko entry; one stretched backward salto with two twists | 4.34 | 5.0 |
| Amanar | Yurchenko entry; one stretched backward salto with 2½ twists | 4.35 | 5.4 |
| Biles II / Yurchenko double pike | Yurchenko entry; two backward saltos, piked, without second-flight twisting | 4.62 | 6.4 |
| Cheng | Roundoff half-on entry; one stretched forward salto with 1½ twists | 5.33 | 5.6 |
| Biles I | Roundoff half-on entry; one stretched forward salto with two twists | 5.34 | 6.0 |
The Code also attaches athlete names to some vaults usually described another way on television. For example, the DTY is listed as Baitova. A descriptive name and an athlete name can refer to the same movement; they should not be counted as two different vaults.
Biles I and Biles II are different vaults
Biles I uses a roundoff half-on entry and one stretched forward salto with two twists. Biles II uses a Yurchenko entry and two backward saltos in a pike, without second-flight twisting. The Yurchenko double pike guide explains the second vault in more detail.
A Cheng and an Amanar also belong to different patterns. The Cheng turns half-on before the table and then performs a forward stretched salto with 1½ twists; the Amanar uses a Yurchenko entry and a backward stretched salto with 2½ twists. Counting only the twists would miss the entry and direction differences.
Men’s Vault Names Have Their Own Values
Men’s artistic gymnastics has a separate Code. Its values and groups should not be copied from the women’s table. A familiar entry name does not guarantee the same group or difficulty in both disciplines.
The following examples are useful when watching an elite men’s competition. In the men’s Code, the first digit of the vault number identifies the group: 225 belongs to Group II, for instance.
| Vault name | What identifies it | Code / group | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roche | Handspring entry; two forward saltos, tucked | 225 / II | 4.8 |
| Dragulescu | Handspring entry; two forward saltos, tucked, with a half-twist | 226 / II | 5.2 |
| Yang Hak Seon | Handspring entry; one stretched forward salto with three twists | 118 / I | 5.6 |
| Yonekura | Stretched Kasamatsu with 2½ twists; listed with the stretched Tsukahara with 3½ twists | 133 / I | 5.6 |
| Ri Se Gwang | Double Tsukahara, tucked, with one twist | 321 / III | 5.6 |
| Ri Se Gwang 2 | Piked Dragulescu: handspring entry; two forward saltos with a half-twist | 232 / II | 5.6 |
| Shirai 2 | Yurchenko entry; one stretched backward salto with 3½ twists | 410 / IV | 5.6 |
The Yonekura has one stretched salto, not a double-piked salto. The Code lists its Kasamatsu description alongside the corresponding Tsukahara description, but the twist counts attached to those two names differ. “Kasamatsu with 2½ twists” cannot simply be relabelled “Tsukahara with 2½ twists.”
Likewise, Ri Se Gwang and Ri Se Gwang 2 are not the same movement in different shapes. Their entries and salto directions differ as well. Keeping the full description beside the name prevents confusion when a commentator uses only the athlete’s name.
Several selected vaults carry a 5.6 difficulty value. This table is not a declaration of a permanent maximum: the Code includes other vaults, and new elements can be submitted for evaluation.
Why a FIG Value Does Not Tell You a Gymnast’s Level
These values apply to the international artistic gymnastics Code. USA Gymnastics Development Program, Xcel and NCAA competitions have their own allowed vaults, equipment rules and start values. A vault with a 4.2 FIG difficulty is not a “Level 4.2” vault, nor does 4.2 represent its domestic starting score.
For early women’s Development Program vaulting, use the vault requirements guide. Some introductory exercises use a mat stack rather than a completed table vault, so this elite table is not an appropriate score sheet for them.
A harder vault also does not automatically win. Execution errors can outweigh its difficulty advantage. The vault scoring comparison explains how FIG scoring differs from the 10.0-based systems used in many domestic programs.
Three Checks When a Vault Name Is Unclear
Check what “double” describes. In DTY, it describes two twists; in double pike, it describes two flips. A phrase such as “double Yurchenko” without the rest of the name is too vague to identify the vault reliably.
Check whether the turn is on or off the table. The half-turn in a half-on entry happens before table contact. It should not be added to the second-flight twist count as though the gymnast performed all those turns after leaving the table.
Check the rule cycle before comparing a broadcast graphic. Older footage may show a different difficulty value for the same vault. Use the current table to discuss current competition, and the relevant historical Code when explaining the score shown in an older meet.
Final Takeaway
Read a vault from the entry through the second flight: approach, body shape, flips and twists. That sequence distinguishes a DTY from a double pike and an Amanar from a Cheng. The Gymnastics Skill Explorer is another way to browse selected skill records; check the discipline and source date on the record before using its value.
Main Sources
- FIG Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Code of Points, 2025–2028 — vault definitions and tables, including numbers 4.34, 4.35, 4.62, 5.33 and 5.34; current file listed October 16, 2026.
- FIG Men’s Artistic Gymnastics Code of Points, 2025–2028 — Section 13 and the individual vault tables; current file listed April 25, 2025, checked with later MAG newsletters.
- World Gymnastics rules and technical updates — current Code and Help Desk editions.