balance beam
gymnastics apparatus used in women's competition. It is a wooden beam 5 metres (16.4 feet) long, 10 cm (4 inches) wide, and raised 125 cm (4.1 feet) from the floor. The performer begins the exercise by mounting the beam by either a vault or a jump and executes movements that must include steps, running, jumps, turns, sitting positions, and some held, or posed, positions. The duration of the exercise is 70 to 90 seconds. Women were first awarded individual Olympic medals in the event at the 1952 Games
Learn more about balance beam with a free trial on Britannica.com.
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |