Question: How far away from the vault do gymnasts start?
About the article "Gymnastics", section "Vault".

Candidate passages:
Yurchenko style vaults must have a safety collar in place.
Gymnasts who do not use this collar will be judged as an invalid vault.
Every vault is assigned a specific number; this number is displayed on a board or electronic screen before the gymnast begins.
Gymnasts will be penalised if they fail to show the number of their intended vault, though there is no penalty if the vault ends up being different (e.g.
not performing enough twists).
If a female gymnast balks, for example stops in the middle of the runway or breaks their run before touching the springboard, no deductions are taken.
The gymnast is given thirty seconds to return to the end of the runway and make a second attempt at the vault.
If, however, the gymnast touches any portion of the springboard or vault itself, they receive a score of zero and may not make another attempt.
Ekaterina Kramarenko touched the vault and was given a zero during the team final at the 2007 World Championship.
Male gymnasts receive a score of 0 if they do not vault once they start running.
Both male and female gymnasts receive a score of 0 if they fail to land on their feet first.
Receiving spotting assistance from a coach, or not touching the vault table will result in a score of 0.
Vaulting before the judge has signaled the gymnast can vault once also resulted in a score of 0; this deduction has since been removed.
An example of this would be at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games to Anna Pavlova during the Vault event final on her second vault. 
Ray won both the US National Championships and the Olympic Trials in 2000.
At the Sydney Olympics, Ray was the only American woman to qualify for an event final, balance beam.
In spite of this, she would encounter major difficulties at the Olympics.
In the all-around finals, officials mistakenly set the vault apparatus 5 cm too low; the situation was not remedied until the competition was halfway over.
The change completely altered gymnasts' entry and postflight and caused several crashes.
Ray was one of the gymnasts who vaulted before the error was discovered; consequently she fell on both her warmup and competition vaults.
On one of her warm up vaults, she came inches away from crashing on her head.
Although Ray escaped injury, the experience left her shaken, and she also fell from beam.
It is impossible to tell how much her subsequent performances were affected.
Gymnasts who had vaulted on the incorrectly set apparatus were invited to redo their vaults at the end of the session; Ray accepted this offer and ended up in 13th place with her revised score.
Like most gymnasts who had used the incorrectly set vault, Ray felt that it had a negative effect on her performance: she opined during a post competition interview with NBC that she could have medalled had it not happened. 
Both male and female gymnasts are judged on all events for execution, degree of difficulty, and overall presentation skills.
Vault: The vault is an event as well as the primary piece of equipment used in that event.
Unlike most of the gymnastic events employing apparatuses, the vault is common to both men's and women's competition, with little difference between the two categories.
A gymnast sprints down a runway, which is a maximum of 25 meters in length, before leaping onto a spring board.
Harnessing the explosive energy of the spring, the gymnast directs his or her body hands-first towards the vault.
Body position is maintained while "popping" (blocking using only a shoulder movement) the vaulting platform.
The gymnast then rotates his or her body so as to land in a standing position on the far side of the vault.
In advanced gymnastics, multiple twists and somersaults may be added before landing.
Successful vaults depend on the speed of the run, the length of the hurdle, the power the gymnast generates from the legs and shoulder girdle, the kinesthetic awareness in the air, and the speed of rotation in the case of more difficult and complex vaults.
In 2001 the traditional vaulting horse was replaced with a new apparatus, sometimes known as a tongue or table.
The new apparatus is more stable, wider, and longer than the older vaulting horse—approx.
1 m in length and 1 m in width, gives gymnasts a larger blocking surface, and is therefore safer than the old vaulting horse.
With the addition of this new and safer apparatus, gymnasts are attempting more difficult and dangerous vaults.
Floor exercise:The floor event occurs on a carpeted 12m × 12m (40' × 40') square, called a "spring floor," which consists of hard foam over a layer of plywood, which is supported by springs or foam blocks.
This provides a firm surface that will respond with force when compressed, allowing gymnasts to achieve extra height and a softer landing than would be possible on a regular floor.
A series of tumbling passes is performed to demonstrate flexibility, strength, and balance.
The gymnast must also show strength skills, including circles, scales, and press handstands.
Men's floor routines usually have four passes that will total from 60 to 70 seconds, and men perform without music (unlike women gymnasts).
Rules require that gymnasts touch each corner of the floor at least once during their routine.
Female gymnasts perform a 70-90 second long choreographed routine to instrumental (no vocals allowed) music on the same spring floor used by male gymnasts.
Female routines consist of tumbling passes, a series of jumps, several dance elements, acrobatic skill elements, and turns.
Elite gymnasts may perform up to four tumbling passes that include three or more skills or "tricks".  
Qualification.42 gymnasts competed in the vault event in the artistic gymnastics qualification round on August 16.
The eight highest scoring gymnasts advanced to the final on August 21. 
Eighty-four gymnasts competed in the vault event in the artistic gymnastics qualification round on August 15.
The eight highest scoring gymnasts advanced to the final on August 22.