Page "Vault (gymnastics)" Paragraph 5

Following the 1988, 1998 and 2000 problems, International Gymnastics Federation ( FIG ) re-evaluated and changed the apparatus, citing both safety reasons and the desire to facilitate more impressive acrobatics.

The 2001 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were the first international competition to make use of the " vaulting table ", an apparatus made by Dutch gymnastics equipment company Janssen-Fritsen since the mid-1990s.

It features a flat, larger, and more cushioned surface almost parallel to the floor, which slopes downward at the end closest to the springboard ; gymnasts nicknamed it the " tongue "; it appears to be somewhat safer than the old apparatus.