By Veronique Bury FIG Editor.

European Hoop Champion in 2000, Eva Serrano placed 5th at the Sydney Olympic Games just prior to putting an end to her career. Since then, a mother of six months to baby Oïhan, the President of the FIG Athletes' Commission has been investing her time for the good of the discipline. In France at the discipline's hub in Montpelier, but also and more importantly within the FIG.

She took ten minutes with us to explain both her role and the role of the Athletes' Commission.

How did you come to sit as President on the FIG Athletes' Commission?
Every four years at the Olympic Games, the gymnasts elect the individuals they want to represent them within the Athletes' Commission. I was first elected a representative at the Sydney Olympic Games. One year after that, I took my seat as President.

What exactly is your role?
At the outset, our roles weren't very well defined, but fortunately things have evolved since then. The last General Assembly afforded us an opportunity to have a representative per discipline placed within the Technical Committee. Parallel to this, the President of the Athletes' Commission was granted a seat on the FIG Executive Committee, something which up to that point had never been done before. We do not have the right to vote, but it does give us a greater sphere of influence.

In what way is this a positive development?
Moving within the Executive and Technical Committees allows us to more easily communicate the views and ideas of our athletes when dealing with issues such as the code of points or the regulations. Information was already filtering up by way of the coaches, but more often than not it had been misconstrued and no longer resembled the views of the gymnasts themselves. Now we can make proposals and contribute to the advancement of the issues that are important to us. Our role is clearer, and we've become more useful and more efficient.

Can you give us an example of something you've advocated?
In Rhythmic Gymnastics, judges can no longer attend podium training as a result of our efforts. Gymnasts were under the impression that they were being judged before they even competed; and podium training is meant to be a way for gymnasts to get their bearings in the hall before competing.

What kind of investment does your position require?
It requires a rather significant personal investment. One of the hardest things is trying to get us all together for an annual meeting. It's not really that important, since every Commission member calls an annual meeting of the discipline's athletes parallel to the world championships in order to communicate information and write up a report. It works well, notably in Rhythmic Gymnastics, Men's Artistic Gymnastics, Aerobic Gymnastics and Trampoline Gymnastics. It gets a bit trickier in Women's Artistic Gymnastics.

On a personal level, what made you accept your position?
I wanted to continue working within the sport. But having put an end to my career eight years ago, I won't be re-elected this year. The regulations stipulate that no more than two Olympiads may have passed between the time an athlete terminates his or her career and the date of election.

How are you planning to invest in the discipline in the future?
I would like to consider a position on the Technical Committee. I feel that it's important for French Rhythmic Gymnastics to have a seat on the Committee. It allows us to actively contribute to the sport's development, rather than passively accepting it.