| 1931 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships | |
| Location: |  Paris, France |
| Prev: | 1930 |
| Next: | 1934 |
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.[1]
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.",[2] 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.”[3]
44 individuals from 10 nations participated in this competition. 14 events were contested. Individual rankings were determined.
| 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 |
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.[7]