Power ranking every single sport at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics

37. Rhythmic Gymnastics

When most people are asked what their least favorite Olympic sport is, most will say, “the one with the ribbon.” After thinking about it, most of the time these people are talking about rhythmic gymnastics. They call it “expression through movement,” which can be taken very differently if you are a person driving on the New Jersey Turnpike. Basically, it’s storytelling using traditional dance as a baseline.

Rhythmic gymnastics uses four different apparatus during the routines: ribbon, hoop, ball, and clubs. Each apparatus has its own 75-90-second routine. It’s pretty long and plotting. Then, for the group sport, five women will use one apparatus for one routine, and then a mix of apparatuses will be used for the second. It’s… something.

We’ve watched a few of these routines for… research purposes. There is an heir of chaos to it. Don’t get us wrong, this is clearly a very well-thought-out routine, but it’s also pretty difficult to follow. It’s not always in sync, although that seems like it can be the point. They do often try things with some variance, like throwing objects in the air. It’s just a really hard sport to read.

Rhythmic gymnastics will always get a bad rap, and the foundations of the sport won’t really allow it to change with the times. It’s basically a dance routine that gets a gold medal. That’s fine.