The word "gymnastics" comes from the ancient Greeks, for whom gymnastics was both an art and a science. The Romans adopted the Greeks' ideas of physical culture, incorporating gymnastics into military training. They originated the event now known as the "Vault" by building wooden dummy horses on which they practiced mounting and dismounting.
Gymnastics was formalised only during the last two centuries with the specific types of apparatus and scoring procedures used today.
Malaysia has produced a number of notable gymnasts since the Second World War when the Sport first became popular. Faiznur Miskin won 5 golds in the 1989 SEA Games. Kau Git Kaur and Lim Wai Chi both won golds in the vault event each in the 1991 and 1995 SEA Games respectively.
