Parallel Bars

parallel bars

Paul Hamm (U.S.) competes on the parallel bars during the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

(credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Event in men's gymnastics in which a pair of wooden bars supported horizontally above the floor at the same height is used to perform acrobatic feats. Competitors combine swings and vaults with stationary positions requiring strength and balance, though swings and vaults must predominate. It has been included as an Olympic gymnastics event since the modern games began in 1896. See also uneven parallel bars.

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Parallel Bars 

a gymnastic sports apparatus used chiefly for suspension and support in performances of exercises. Parallel bars are classified as intermediate (men’s), uneven (women’s), and low (children’s). The main part of the parallel bar consists of two horizontally placed parallel poles (350 cm long, oval in cross section, 5 cm in height, and 4 cm in width), which are hinged to pivots inserted in hollow posts that are attached to a metal frame. Sometimes uneven parallel bars are used in which the poles are fastened to cables. Men’s parallel bars are set 160-170 cm above the floor, and the distance between their poles is 42-62 cm; in the uneven parallel bars, the lower one is 130-150 cm high and the upper one is 190-240 cm high; low bars are 100-160 cm high. The poles are made of wood (ash, beech, or birch) with a metal rod inside.