1938 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships

Medals

Men

Team final

All-around

A total of 59 competitors were individually ranked in the all-around competition.

Floor exercise

† = Although on page 65 of the FIG’s 125-Year Anniversary Publication, Hudec and Mack are listed as having won silver and bronze, respectively, on the Floor Exercise, two different contemporaneous reports of these World Championships show Hudec and Mack as having tied for silver, each with "18.56" or "18.5 & 2/3" points.

Pommel horse

Rings

Vault

Parallel bars

Horizontal bar

Track and Field and Athletics component

According to the official commemorative publication for the 10th Prague Sokol Slet in 1938, of which these World Championships were a feature, as well as to an article on Gymnastics-History.com, there was a Track and Field and Athletics component to the competition, as there had been in some previous World Championships and Olympic Games. In this edition of the World Championships, the track and field and athletics segment of the competition included 100 meter, High jump, and Shot put events. According to information given in this 10th Sokol Slet publication, the maximum possible individual all-around total was 150 points, of which the track and field and athletics component contributed a total of 30 points, with a maximum of 10 points each being awarded for the 100 meter, High Jump, and Shot Put events.

Although there is no mention of there having been awarded medals solely for placements earned in the track and field segment of the competition, the ten highest-placing individuals in the Track and Field segment of the competition were:

Gymnastics apparatuses only

The 1938 Sokol Slet commemorative publication also specifically articulates that, minus the track and field events, among the highest individual placers of the gymnastics-apparatus-only segment of the competition (120 of the 150 total points), the top 3 places were earned by:

1. Alois Hudec of Czechoslovakia, with 114.633 points
2. Eugen Mack of Switzerland, with 113.6 points
3. Michael Reusch of Switzerland, with 112.266 points

with Gajdoš, Petráček and Beck rounding out the top 6, in that order.

Under all World Championships and Olympic Games editions of artistic gymnastics competition since World War II, there is no longer a track and field or athletics component to the competition. In these long and currently prevailing standards, then, in “pure gymnastics” terms, Alois Hudec could be considered one of the sport’s repeat World All-Around Champions, who are rare compared to single-time winners.

Women

Team final

All-around

A total of 32 woman gymnasts were individually ranked for the all-around competition. With the context of both the previous World Championships which were the first with a women's segment to the competition as well as the interceding Olympic Games, the outcome and composition of the women's all-around podium at these championships was significant. Reportedly, cheating occurred at the first 1934 women's installment of these games which, when undone, allowed the Czechoslovak team and their foremost star Vlasta Děkanová to be the first-place finishers, as a team and individual, respectively. Going into the 1936 Olympics, the Czechoslovaks and Děkanová were the favorites, but had to take 2nd place behind the home-ground advantaged German team (who did not compete at the 1934 Worlds), and the top three scoring individuals were all German. These 1938 Worlds were hosted in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and this time all three spots on the all-around podium were occupied by individuals from the Czechoslovak team. Děkanová (a Czech) successfully defended her first-place finish from the previous worlds, Zdeňka Veřmiřovská (a Moravian) won silver, and Matylda Pálfyová (a Slovak) won bronze. The three regions from which each hailed within the former Czechoslovakia were the 3 largest and most significant regions of that nation, so the fullest representation possible of geographical diversity within that country was made manifest on this all-around podium.

† Compulsory Uneven Bars †† Optional Uneven Bars

Vault

Compulsory Uneven Bars

Optional Uneven Bars

Balance Beam

Flying Rings

60 meters

Discus

References

• Sports123

References

1. History.com, Gymnastics. "1938: The First All-Around World Champion in Women’s Gymnastics". Gymnastics-History.com.
2. Macanovic, Hrvoje. (July 30, 1938). "Setsko gimnasticko prvenstvo 1938 u Pragu.". Sokolsky Glasnik.
3. History.com, Gymnastics. "1938: Another Perfect 10 and Shot Put Struggles during the Men’s Competition at the World Championships". Gymnastics-History.com.
4. "The Story Goes On: 125 Ans/Years Federation Internationale Gymnastique 1881-2006". International Gymnastics Federation.
5. "Památník 10. Všesokolského Sjezdu v Praze 1938". Pec and Československé obce Sokolské, Neubert and Sons, printers.
6. Vreca, Sanja. (2016). "ŽIVLJENJEPIS SLOVENSKIH VRHUNSKIH TELOVADK OD 1936 DO 1970". University of Ljubljana.
7. (18 August 2019). "Stříbrná zlatá Vlasta Děkanová - Mistryně světa v tělocviku".
8. History.com, Gymnastics. "1938: The First All-Around World Champion in Women’s Gymnastics". Gymnastics-History.com.
9. . (July 2, 1938). ["Ceskoslovensko vyhralo mezinarodni telocvicne zavody."](https://dnnt.mzk.cz/view/uuid:9ebd2c80-9386-11ea-8d7c-005056825209?page=uuid:b19f2c1b-2b7d-4834-ae07-ef653dad6e63). *Vecer*.