Event
Balance beam
Skill type
Mount
Value
C
Known as
Aerial over beam
Aerial from side position mount
About
The aerial over the side of the beam is one of the great mounts in gymnastics, a real opportunity to display elegance and extension through acrobatics, but it has more or less died on the vine in modern gymnastics because its C (0.3) value just isn’t high enough to make it worth doing. It was formerly valued at B (0.2), the same as the front handspring version, but did receive a 2017 upgrade to C.
The late 70s and early 80s were the true heyday of the aerial over the side of the beam, with Maria Filatova fully committing to it to highlight her signature ribbon-bigger-than-head style starting in 1976, through to Chinese stars like Chen Yongyan and Wu Jiani making it their own in the early to mid 80s. Do I hear a renaissance?