On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the International Federation of Gymnastics which was founded in 1881, a commemorative competition was held in Paris, on July 11 & 12, in conjunction with that year's Bastille Day.
There seems to be a history of inconsistency from the FIG regarding whether these 1931 games are considered to be a World Championships. About these games, it is written in a 100-year Anniversary publication, that Following "agreements, objections, and discussions" this manifestation was called "World Championships"., however on the following page of that same publication, it is stated "Logically, the manifestations of the 50th anniversary of the FIG cannot be placed among the official competitions",. Additionally, in a 125-year Anniversary Publication, it is said about these games "Premiers concours sous l’appellation Championnats du Monde de Gymnastique artistique masculine a Paris.", yet they were referred to as "unofficial" and their results were omitted from the results section of that book. As it currently stands (as of as recently as 2021), about these games in 1931, the FIG states “1931 First Artistic Men's World Championships held in Paris.”
44 individuals from 10 nations participated in this competition. 14 events were contested. Individual rankings were determined.
Men's individual all around
Rankings
Ranking Country Gymnast Score 1 Heikki Savoleinen 185.000 2 Alois Hudec 183.626 3 Jan Gajdoš 183.233 4 Georges Leroux 179.655 5 Romeo Neri 177.763 6 Hermann Hänggi 176.916 7 István Pelle 176.715 8 Georges Miez 176.546 9 Josip Primožič 175.880 10 Leon Štukelj 175.509 11 Jindřich Tintěra 173.560 12 ?? Büllmann 170.495 13 Ladislav Tikal 170.023 14 Bedrich Supcik 169.55 15 Josef (?) Walter 169.44 16 Peter Šumi 168.55 17 Boris Gregorka 166.93 18 Mathias Logelin 16?.?? 19 France or Algeria??? ? Rizo 162.86 20 Miroslav Forte 161.69 21 Pieter (?) van Dam 159.09
Medalists There was a special clause to the rules that in order for any individual to be properly termed 'World Champion', they had to demonstrate a certain level of competency among all 14 events, scoring at least 60% of all of the points that could be possibly awarded on each event. Therefore, the highest-ranking gymnast, Heikki Savolainen of Finland did not actually end up becoming World Champion; rather, 2nd-place finishing Alois Hudec of Czechoslovakia, who was the only individual to score at least 60% on all 14 events, ended up becoming 'World Champion' at this competition.
Medal Country Gymnast Alois Hudec
Men's floor exercise
Medal Country Gymnast Alois Hudec
Men's rings
Medal Country Gymnast Alois Hudec
Men's vault
Medal Country Gymnast Hermann Hänggi
Men's parallel bars
Medal Country Gymnast István Pelle
Men's horizontal bar
Medal Country Gymnast Heikki Savolainen
References