Levels & Programs

What Is Xcel Sapphire Gymnastics? Requirements, Skills & Scoring

13 Min Read

Xcel Sapphire is the highest of the six divisions in USA Gymnastics’ Xcel program, one step above Diamond. It’s for advanced gymnasts who want to keep competing in Xcel, including gymnasts who have competed Development Program Levels 8–10.

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Sapphire also scores differently from the other divisions. On bars, beam and floor, its routines start from 9.60 and can earn up to 0.40 in bonus to reach 10.0, whereas Bronze to Diamond start from 10.0.

USA Gymnastics piloted Sapphire in Regions 3, 6, 7 and 8 in the 2022–23 season and made it a national division from 2023–24. The rules below are from the Xcel Code of Points (the 2022 edition, extended to July 2028 and revised in August 2026) and USA Gymnastics’ 2026–27 Rules & Policies.

Xcel Sapphire at a Glance

RuleDiamondSapphire
Minimum age912 (younger gymnasts can petition)
Score to enter32.00 AA at Platinum, or 8.50 IES32.00 AA at Diamond, or 8.50 IES
Entry from the Development ProgramLevels 7–8Levels 8–10
Value Parts on bars, beam and floor5 A + 2 B3 A + 3 B + 1 C
Hardest skills allowedOne D, with no bonus; no ED skills allowed; no E
Start Value on bars, beam and floor10.009.60 + up to 0.40 bonus
Vault Start Values9.5–10.09.0–10.0
Beam and floor time limits1:15 beam, 1:30 floor1:30 each

AA is the all-around score, the total of all four events at one meet. Sapphire is an Xcel division with its own rules, not another name for a Development Program level.

For Diamond’s own requirements on each event, see Xcel Diamond requirements.

Who Can Compete Xcel Sapphire?

A Sapphire gymnast must have reached her 12th birthday and earned a mobility score at a live sanctioned meet: a 32.00 all-around at Diamond, or an 8.50 as an Individual Event Specialist (IES), a gymnast who competes three events or fewer. The pilot season asked for a 34.00 at Diamond; USA Gymnastics lowered it to 32.00 when Sapphire became a national division.

A gymnast coming from the Development Program can enter Sapphire from Level 8, 9 or 10 after competing the all-around at that level in at least one sanctioned meet.

Some gymnasts enter by petition, usually with a video of their skills. A gymnast who hasn’t turned 12 can petition the Regional and National Xcel Committee Chairs. Gymnasts aged 14 or older (or high school freshmen) with USA Gymnastics experience, and gymnasts who have competed outside USA Gymnastics or outside the United States, also have petition routes into the top divisions.

Sapphire Requirements on Bars, Beam and Floor

Each Sapphire routine on bars, beam and floor needs at least 3 A, 3 B and 1 C Value Parts, Xcel’s difficulty ratings for skills, and four Special Requirements, set types of skills. A harder skill can stand in for an easier one, one for one. D skills are allowed, but E skills aren’t.

EventThe four Special Requirements
Uneven bars1. A skill rated B or higher that finishes in clear support at vertical
2. A 360° circling skill rated B or higher
3. A B turn, a second, different B circling skill or a B release
4. A dismount rated B or higher, or a C skill connected directly to an A salto dismount
(The first three can’t be the mount or dismount.)
Balance beam1. A full (360°) turn on one foot
2. A dance series of two dance skills (leaps, jumps, hops or turns), plus a leap or jump with a 180° cross or side split
3. An acro series with at least one flight skill, including a skill that reaches or passes through vertical, or a salto or aerial
4. A dismount rated B or higher, or an acro flight skill connected directly to an A salto or aerial dismount
Floor exercise1. One acro pass with two saltos, the same or different
2. Three different saltos, one rated B or higher
3. A dance passage of two different leaps, jumps or hops, one of them a leap with a 180° split
4. A turn on one foot rated B or higher

A leap or jump within 45° of the required 180° split still earns the requirement, with up to 0.20 deducted for the short split. Beam and floor routines have a 1:30 time limit and no minimum time.

To check a planned routine against these requirements, try the Routine Requirements Checker. It flags possible gaps for the coach to review; it doesn’t award an official Start Value.

How Sapphire Start Value Works

The 9.60 starting value already assumes every required Value Part and Special Requirement is there. Judges add the bonus the routine earns, up to 0.40, and subtract anything missing: 0.10 for each missing A, 0.30 for each missing B, 0.50 for the missing C, 0.50 for each Special Requirement or restricted skill, and 0.30 on bars or beam if there’s no dismount.

Bonus comes from two sources, in any mix:

  • Difficulty bonus: 0.10 for each different C skill, including the required C, and 0.10 for one D skill per event. More D skills are allowed but earn no more bonus.
  • Connection bonus: 0.10 for each qualifying connection of two B skills or harder. On floor, indirect tumbling connections count too.

A skill earns bonus only if it receives Value Part credit and is performed without a fall or a spot.

A Worked Example

Here is how a hypothetical floor routine that meets every requirement builds its Start Value:

StepValue
Starting value with all Value Parts and Special Requirements9.60
Difficulty bonus for two different C saltos+0.20
Connection bonus for one B + B connection+0.10
Start Value9.90
Execution and artistry deductions−0.45
Final score9.45

One more qualifying connection, or an eligible D skill, would add the last 0.10 and bring the Start Value to 10.00. Bonus can’t make up for a missing requirement, though: the same routine without one Special Requirement would start from 9.60 + 0.30 − 0.50 = 9.40. Our guide to how Xcel Start Value is calculated works through every division.

Watch: A Sapphire Beam Routine and Its Start Value

The National Association of Women’s Gymnastics Judges (NAWGJ) publishes Sapphire routines for judges to practice on, together with Start Value scripts: answer sheets that record each skill’s value and the routine’s Start Value. This is Beam #0045, filmed at a competition and posted in 2022. Its script uses the formula described above: 9.60, plus bonus, minus anything missing.

Sapphire Beam #0045, a routine published for judging practice. Video: National NAWGJ.Watch on YouTube
TimeWhat the gymnast doesValue on the script
0:01Mount: a jump from the floor to a seated position on the beamA
0:14Dance series: two dance skills in a row, including a jump with a full splitB and A
0:30Acro series: two back handsprings in a rowB + B
0:37Full turn on one footA
0:49A leapC
1:05Dismount: a round-off into a back salto off the end of the beamB and A

The script credits four A skills, four B skills and one C, which covers the 3 A, 3 B and 1 C that Sapphire requires, and it marks all four Special Requirements as met. The bonus is 0.10 for the direct connection of the two back handsprings and 0.10 for the C leap. The Start Value is 9.60 + 0.20 = 9.80.

To start from 10.00, the routine would need another 0.20 in bonus, for example a second, different C skill and a second B + B connection. The Start Value is not the score: the judges then deduct for execution and artistry, which the script does not record.

The script dates from 2022. Its Sapphire formula and beam requirements match the August 2026 Code, but a skill’s letter value can change between editions, so read the letters as that script’s ruling.

Sapphire Vault

Vault uses its own chart rather than Sapphire’s 9.60-plus-bonus formula. The same vault can have a different Start Value in Diamond and Sapphire. The table separates a twisting flight off the table from a salto, which is a flip without hand support.

VaultSapphire Start Value
Front handspring (1.101)9.2
Round-off, back handspring onto the table, full twist off without a salto (4.201)9.6
Tucked Tsukahara (3.201) or tucked Yurchenko (4.203)9.9
Piked or layout Tsukahara; piked or layout Yurchenko, without a twist in the salto10.0
Selected examples from the Xcel vault chart. This is not the Development Program or NCAA chart.

The 9.6 vault in the second row is not the full-twisting layout salto commonly called a Yurchenko full. Its official entry number is 4.201, and it involves a full twist off the table without that backward salto. It starts from 10.0 in Diamond, illustrating why both the exact vault identity and the division matter.

Only listed vaults are permitted. An alternative springboard is not allowed in Sapphire; using one voids the vault. See how gymnastics vault scoring works for the distinction between a vault’s starting value and its execution deductions.

Competitions and Moving On

Sapphire gymnasts compete at local meets and at State and Regional Championships run by their state and regional committees. From June 2027, the 20 highest-ranked Sapphire gymnasts at each regional championship, plus ties, also qualify for the new National Xcelebration, with no minimum score.

There’s no Xcel division above Sapphire. A gymnast can stay at Sapphire or move to the Development Program under its entry rules, but Xcel scores don’t count toward DP mobility, and a gymnast coming from Xcel normally enters the DP at Level 4 or below unless a petition is approved. Our guide to Xcel vs. the Development Program sets out the entry charts.

For the full progression, see our Xcel levels guide and the USAG Development Program levels.

Common Questions

Is Sapphire the highest Xcel level?

Yes. The divisions run Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond and Sapphire.

What age is Xcel Sapphire?

A gymnast must have reached her 12th birthday. A younger gymnast can petition with a video of her skills.

Does Sapphire start from 10.0?

Not on bars, beam and floor. Those routines start from 9.60 and can earn up to 0.40 in bonus. Vault uses the Start Values on the Sapphire chart.

Can Sapphire gymnasts perform D skills?

Yes, and more than one, but only one D per event earns difficulty bonus. E skills aren’t allowed.

Is Xcel Sapphire the same as Level 9?

No. USA Gymnastics doesn’t treat Sapphire as the equivalent of any Development Program level, and gymnasts from Levels 8, 9 and 10 can all enter it.

Final Takeaway

Xcel Sapphire is the top Xcel division. A gymnast needs to be 12 and to score a 32.00 all-around at Diamond (or an 8.50 as an event specialist), and her bars, beam and floor routines need at least 3 A, 3 B and 1 C skills plus four Special Requirements.

Its scoring sets it apart. Routines start from 9.60 and need 0.40 in bonus, from C and D skills or B + B connections, to reach a 10.0 Start Value, while vault values come from the Sapphire chart.

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