 42 gymnasts competed in the preliminary round.The format for the competition was unusual.Instead of choosing the gymnasts with the highest scores from the qualifying round to advance to the final (as had been the case in 1984 and 1988), it was decided that the six best would qualify for the final, along with the top 12 for each apparatus, meaning that nine of the 17 finalists performed in the final with only one to three pieces of apparatus and had no chance to win.