Interesting facts: when did group exercises become part of the Olympic Games program?

Did you know that group exercise competitions were not immediately included in the Summer Olympic Games program?

Rhythmic gymnastics was first presented at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. It was an individual tournament.

Group athletes made their debut at the Games only after three Olympic cycles — in 1996 in Atlanta. Spanish gymnasts became the first Olympic champions in the team all-around. The Bulgarian team took second place, the Russian team took third.

The Russian team was represented by Irina Dzyuba, now a coach at the Alina Kabaeva Sky Grace Rhythmic Gymnastics Academy, Evgenia Bochkareva, Angelina Yushkova, Olga Shtyrenko, Yulia Ivanova and Elena Krivoshey.

Interesting facts: which appeared in rhythmic gymnastics first?