Thomas salto


The Thomas salto is an extremely difficult and dangerous move performed during the floor exercise in Artistic gymnastics. It is named after American gymnast Kurt Thomas.

Technical details

The Thomas salto consists of a 1 ½ salto backward in a tucked or piked position with 1 ½ twists or a 1 ½ salto backward in a layout position with 1 ½ twists.
The move is effectively banned for women as it was removed from the Code of Points following several serious accidents, most notably the paralysis of Elena Mukhina in 1980. As of the 2017–2020 quad, rollout skills including the Thomas salto have been banned for both men and women.