Steiner took part in the
World Gymnastics Championships in 1909, 1911 and 1913, helping his team to the gold medal at two of those games and silver at the other. Ferdinand Steiner is officially recognized by both the
FIG (the official governing body of the sport of
Artistic Gymnastics) and
USAG (the official governing body of the sport of Artistic gymnastics within the USA) as the 1911 World All-Around Champion in the sport of Artistic gymnastics. Steiner introduced an element, the inverted cross, a move that is still valued as a "C"-difficulty element in the current Code of Points, if not much higher, depending upon the movement from which it is entered. Since medal winners who represented
Austria-Hungary came from Bohemia, these medals were later transferred to
Czechoslovakia by the
FIG. After Steiner's competitive career was over, he was a very reputable trainer of his fellow Czechoslovak
Sokol gymnasts. ==References==