Animation of a forward flip or somersault in the air.
Somersault backward from one leg.
A
somersault
is an
acrobatic
move where a person moves the feet over the head whilst in mid-air. The somersault can be done forwards, backwards, or sideways and is similar to a
flip
(or, if performed backwards, a
backflip
).
A backwards somersault while still moving forward is called a
Gainer
.
The word comes from the old
French
word
sombresault
, which is no longer used.
A somersault is widely performed in
acrobatics
, namely
gymnastics
,
rhythmic gymnastics
,
trampolining
, and many other sporting events.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Gymnastics
.