What Makes a Good Score in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics in 2026?

■ What defines success in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics? What constitutes a “good score”? Is it a single, magical number, or something more nuanced? This piece explores MAG scoring, breaking down the components of a routine’s final tally and the details of an All-Around score in light of the 2025-2028 MAG Code of Points.

A good score for a 14-year-old gymnast differs significantly from that of an elite athlete competing in the event final of an international competition. The evaluation metrics focus primarily on the score ranges achieved by elite gymnasts in major international competitions, including both All-Around and apparatus finals.

What’s a Good Score in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics

Understanding the Score: Difficulty and Execution Scores

♦ The Difficulty Score

The Difficulty Score (D-score) measures a routine’s complexity, starting from zero and adding points for difficult skills and connections, with no upper limit. Gymnasts earn points for specific skills (rated A-J) and connection bonuses (on vault, each element is assigned a start value ranging from 1.2 to 5.6).

♦ The Execution Score

The Execution Score (E-score) starts at 10.0 and deducts for errors; it serves as the critical determinant of success or failure in routines. The judges’ job is to identify execution faults warranting deductions (-0.1 / -0.3 / -0.5 / -1.0).

♦ The Total Score

The final score is the combo of 2 factors:
=> How difficult the routine was and how well it was performed.

Range of Good Scores on Each Apparatus

FLOOR EXERCISE

The highest D scores recorded on the Floor since early 2025 have reached 6.3. The highest execution score has not surpassed the threshold of 9.000, and top total scores are around 14.900.

POMMEL HORSE

On Pommel Horse, the highest difficulty since the implementation of the 2025-2028 MAG Code of Points is 6.2, achieved by Nariman Kurbanov of Kazakhstan. Regarding the execution score, a few gymnasts have, on rare occasions, succeeded in obtaining scores ranging from 9.2 to 9.3. Furthermore, the highest total score recorded in 2025 also belongs to Nariman Kurbanov, totaling 15.200.

STILL RINGS

Donnell Whittenburg (USA), the reigning World Champion, and Courtney Tulloch (GBR) executed routines that achieved the highest difficulty scores of 6.0. The leading execution score typically ranges between 8.800 and 8.900. The highest total score recorded in international competitions stands at 14.700; however, certain gymnasts have attained scores nearing 15.000 in domestic events.

VAULT

The maximum starting value for the MAG Vault is 5.6. Due to the brevity of the vault routine, the execution score tends to exceed those of other events. In 2025, numerous gymnasts attained scores ranging from 9.500 to 9.550. The highest total score of 15.200 was achieved by Carlos Yulo, the reigning Olympic and World Champion on this apparatus.

PARALLEL BARS

The highest Difficulty score (6.3) was achieved by Chinese gymnasts You Hao and Zou Jingyuan in Chinese Nationals but in international competitions, Angel Barajas (COL) is leading with 6.1. Regarding the execution score, Zou Jingyuan is still dominating the field with 9.366 at the World Championships (QX). Same for the total score, he’s the leader with 15.466.

HIGH BAR

Tang Chia-hung (TPE) has currently one of the most difficult HB routines with a D score at 6.7. In terms of execution, Anthony Mansard (FRA) recorded a remarkable score of 9.000 at the European Championships, although such instances are very rare. The standard top execution scores typically range from 8.200 to 8.900. Additionally, the highest total score was also attained by Tang Chia-hung at the Asian Championships.

All-Around Score: The Ultimate Test

With the introduction of the new MAG Code of Points, the average total All-Around scores have decreased by approximately 3% to 6%. This decline can be attributed to the reduction in the number of elements considered for routine construction, which has decreased from 10 to 8, along with the drop of 0.4 point in the start value for each vault.

Additionally, the implementation of more stringent criteria in the execution score has contributed to the overall decrease in the All-Around scores.

Here are the scores of the medalists in the All-Around competition at the major international championships in 2025. While some gymnasts achieved marginally higher AA scores in domestic competitions, with a peak score of 85.466 attained by Kawakami Shohei during the All-Japan Championships, only scores acquired in international events are considered for statistical consistency.

The highest AA score of 2025 in international championships was achieved by Hashimoto Daiki (JPN) in the qualifications at the FISU Games: 85.197

Scores of the medalists in the All-Around at the major international championships in 2025

A Historical Perspective: The Evolution of What’s Considered a Good Score

Since the introduction of the open code in 2006, the MAG Code of Points has undergone five revisions, resulting in modifications to the criteria defining a good score in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics. That’s why comparing scores from different Olympic cycles is not relevant.

A good score in 2008 typically exceeded 16.000 in most events; however, such scores were awarded only a few occasions in the 2021-2024 Olympic Cycle (Zou Jingyuan of China and Curran Phillips of the USA on Parallel Bars), and not at all since the implementation of the current Code of Points in 2025.

Average Top Scores per Event at the Olympics since 2008

Methodology: The average is calculated based on the highest eight scores per apparatus in the All Around and the eight scores in each event final.
Scores on the High Bar in 2020 and 2024 were diminished due to the significant number of falls occurring in the event final. Calculations indicate that the average scores increase by 0.4 when the lowest four scores are excluded from the analysis.

Average All-Around Top Scores at the Olympics since 2008

Methodology:
Top AA Score: The highest AA score attained during the Qualifications or in the AA Final.
Average AA Score: The mean of the 24 scores obtained in the Qualifications and the 24 scores recorded in the AA Final.

The most significant changes occurred during the 2017-2021 Olympic cycle, a period marked by a substantial decline in scores, attributable to the decrease in composition requirements from five to four in each event, coupled with more stringent judging practices.

More:
MAG Code of Points 2025-2028: Review & Analysis
How to Read Gymnastics Scoring in 60 seconds?
Rules in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics