Gymnastics in the spotlight

Lausanne (SUI) / FIG Office, May 24, 2013: The Bulgarian National Olympic Committee (NOC) has designated its college for the 2013 – 2017 Cycle. Convened in Sofia on May 9 after having re-elected Ms Stefka Kostadinova to the presidency, the General Assembly elected Ms Iordanka Blagoeva, President of Bulgaria’s Aerobic Gymnastics Union as Vice-President.

The election is a testimony to the Bulgarian sports community of Blagoeva’s commitment as a respected and recognized individual in sports in general and Aerobic Gymnastics in particular. Aerobic is indebted to her for the national and international growth that led to its hosting world championships in both 2004 and 2012.

From the left: Iordanka Blagoeva, Iordan Iovtchev, Stefka Kostadinova (FIG)

The NOC also took this assembly as an opportunity to elect as a member Mr Krassimir Dunev, icon in Bulgarian Artistic Gymnastics who took the Silver medal at the 1996 worlds in Puerto Rico (PUR) and the Bronze in Sabae (JPN) in 1995 at the Horizontal Bar. He is also provisionally elected acting President of the National Gymnastics Federation, the exclusive body affiliated to the FIG, during the absence of incumbent President Iordan Iovtchev, recently promoted to the rank of Deputy Minister for Physical Education and Sports in the Bulgarian Republic.

It is of interest to note that both President Kostadinova and her new Vice-President, are specialists at the high jump; the former having mounted an Olympic podium on two occasions. In Seoul (KOR) in 1998, she took home Silver, pocketing Gold at the Olympic Games Atlanta (USA) just eight years later. She still holds the world record in the discipline with a 2.09m jump at the worlds in Rome (ITA) as far back as 1987! As for Iordanka Blagoeva, she was a Silver medallist at the Olympic Games in Munich (GER) in 1972, Bronze in Montreal (CAN) in 1976 in the same specialty.

What role models!

FIG Artistic Gymnastics Age Group Camp
Manila (PHI), May 15 – 19, 2013

LAUSANNE (SUI), FIG Office, May 23, 2013: The Philippines hosted and completed the 22nd of the five-day FIG Age Group camps in the capital city of Manila at the Philippines National Training Centre. It was the last of this first series of Age Group Program Camps that were offered by the FIG over the past six months to those countries that had indicated an interest and willingness to adopt and implement the FIG Age Group Program.

A total of 35 coaches from every part of the country attended – 17 for MAG and 18 for WAG. A large number of well prepared demonstrator gymnasts of all levels were present throughout the camp. As in all five of the South-East Asian countries that we have visited with these camps, the quality and talent of the gymnasts and their future potential was very high. It bodes well or a very successful gymnastics future the entire region. The FIG Age Group Program is expected to help in that process.

The FIG expert and course leader for this camp was Jeff Thomson, the former Men’s Program Director of Canada and Education Director of New Zealand. He was joined Carol-Angela Orchard who was many time Olympic-coach and is currently a consultant to the British Team and other countries. Both came directly from a similar camp in Vietnam.

These camps are intended to expose as many coaches as possible from the host country to the FIG Age Group Program so that it will be implemented and understood uniformly.

These twenty-two training camps that were held within a 6-month period offered 110 days of coach education and development to the developing gymnastics countries of the world. Over five-hundred different coaches and an equal number of gymnasts with citizenships from 60 countries attended. If we include also the five regional introductory camps and the two expert training seminars, the FIG Academy Program has conducted 29 Age Group events that were attended by 629 different coaches. It has been a remarkable effort in a very short time.

The Age Group program includes a testing and monitoring program for MAG and WAG physical abilities and technical skills as well as a complete competition program with modified optional rules for age-group gymnasts and compulsory exercises for all ages. It also includes a variety of additional information related to developing a systematic gymnastics program that can lead to high performance. The program was developed by Hardy Fink for the competition program, Dieter Hofmann for the testing program and Carol-Angela Orchard for the dance and choreographic content. The recently completed second edition of the published program and manual was used at this camp.

The five-day camp focused primarily on practical work in the gymnasium with coaches and their gymnasts on the various technical and physical tests, the compulsory exercises and the modified optional rules. Some theory background was provided to promote the FIG philosophy of protecting gymnasts during the growth years.

Thanks go to the enormous efforts of Bettina Pou, the Secretary General of the Philippines Gymnastics Federation. She and her staff of volunteers did all of the advance and on-site planning and organization to make this camp the big success that it was.

Future plans for the FIG Age Group Program include the conducting of several 5-day camps that had been postponed and additional introductory camps and then 3-day follow-up camps over the next two years for all of the committed countries. The learning from the many camps and input and observations from the many coaches will be used to make some adjustments. That version will then be presented to the FIG Women’s and Men’s Technical Committees for ratification later this year.

The financial assistance of the IOC has been instrumental in the production and implementation of this program. It is hoped that such future assistance will help produce and implement similar programs for the other Olympic disciplines of Rhythmic Gymnastics and Trampoline Gymnastics during this quadrennial.

Hellmut Grosse passed away.

Hellmut Grosse passed away on April 07, 2013 at the age of 89. He was the companion of Ellen Berger (GDR), FIG Honorary vice-President, former Women’s Technical Committee President, who died on April 17, 1997.

Born in 1924, Hellmut was alongside Ellen during all the years during which she assumed the highest responsibilities within the FIG and the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics activities, from her election as MTC Member in 1968, as MTC President in 1976, until her retirement in 1992.

The FIG WTC 1985 - 1988 chaired by Ellen Berger.

The FIG is indebted to Hellmut and Ellen for all their dedicated work. They both  will always be remembered for the central role they played in the Federation and its development.

In the name of the FIG and the international gymnastics community as a whole, the FIG President, Professor Bruno Grandi has sent his sincerest condolences to Hellmut Grosse’s family, friends and the German Gymnastics Federation.

The Council held a vote to elect the members of the Disciplinary Commission. The members, in order of the number of votes received, are: Paul Engelmann (SUI); Marc Schoenmakers (BEL); Rached Gharbi (TUN); Mehman Aliyev (AZE); Snezana Lakicevic (SRB); Youssef Altabbaa (SYR).

Moreover, the Council duly recognised the lawyers recently appointed by the Executive Committee, namely: Andreas Zagklis (GRE), Michelle Duncan (NZL), Karin Meseck (SUI), Daniele Moro (SUI), Matthias Scherer (SUI) and Bernhard Welten (SUI).

The proposed modifications and updates to the FIG Technical Regulations were accepted without qualification.

The Council approved the six principles which must be applied to the reworking of the competition calendar and the new criteria for qualification for the Olympic Games.  These are as follows:

• To keep the team competitions;
• To include the best individual athletes in competition II;
• To ensure the participation of the best specialists;
• To guarantee the participation of all of the Continental Unions;
• To take into account World Cup rankings;
• To respect the principle of universality.

The 2012 accounts and the revised budget for 2013 were approved.

The competition fees are to be maintained at their current levels.

The national federations of Bahrain (BRN), Cape Verde (CPV), Honduras (HON), Macedonia (MKD), Nepal (NEP) and Turkmenistan (TKM) have been suspended due to their repeated failure to meet their financial obligations. To recap, the federation of Botswana (BOT) was also suspended in 2012.

Further to the proposal by the Statutes Commission and the Executive Committee, the Council accepted the provisional admission to the FIG of the national federations of Afghanistan (AFG) and the Cayman Islands (CAY).

The 37th edition of the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in 2019 were awarded to Azerbaijan (AZE) and will take place in the city of Baku.

The Council approved the proposal of the Executive Committee with regard to the deadline for the registration of candidates to host competitions, which shall henceforth be four years for world championships and five years for the World Gymnaestrada.

The Council approved the proposal of the Executive Committee with regard to the deadline for the registration of candidates to host competitions, which shall henceforth be four years for world championships and five years for the World Gymnaestrada.

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New elected members

Liverpool (GBR) / FIG Council Office, May 09, 2013: The six members of the new FIG Disciplinary Commission have been elected. The vote designated Mr Paul Engelmann (SUI), Mr Marc Schoenmaekers (BEL), Mr Rached Gharbi (TUN), Mr Mehman Aliyev (AZE), Ms Snezana Lakicevic Stojacic (SRB) and Mr Mohamad Youssef Altabaa (SYR). This election took place on May 9 -10, in Liverpool (GBR), at the occasion of the 13th FIG Council.

In the future and for each open case submitted, the FIG will designate a panel of 3 persons, one member appointed from among the 6 elected above and 2 lawyers from the 6 newly designated by the Executive Committee: Atty. Andreas Zagklis (GRE), Michelle Duncan (NZL), Karin Meseck (SUI), Daniele Moro (SUI), Matthias Scherer (SUI) and Bernhard Welten (SUI).

These elections come into force with immediate effect.

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Lausanne (SUI) & Liverpool (GBR), May 08, 2013. AGU/phs

EC Official News

•    The following nationality changes were approved: Aliaksandra Platonova (RG), from RUS to AZE; Anna Svirina (RG) from RUS to ARM; Naoya Tsukahara (MAG) from JPN to AUS; Ruslan Aghamirov (TRA) from RUS to AZE; Katrine Field-Hagelund (RG), from NOR to NZL.

•    The requests for FIG affiliation from the federations of Afghanistan (AFG) and the Cayman Islands (CAY) were approved. A final decision on whether to affiliate them will be taken by the FIG Council.

•    Ali Zaater (ALG), who was elected as head of the African Gymnastics Union (UAG) on 25 April 2013, will henceforth take up the place previously occupied by his predecessor Mohamed Yamani (ALG) on the FIG Executive Council. Additionally, the UAG has announced the creation of a new Gymnastics for All Committee.

•    The proposal to transform World of Gymnastics magazine into a digital publication was approved. However, 1,000 copies of it will continue to be published in the current format.

•    The Executive Committee authorised the FIG Presidential Commission to make the necessary provisions with regards to the publication of the findings of the FIG Disciplinary Commission concerning the Rhythmic Gymnastics judges’ courses in Bucharest (ROU), Moscow (RUS) and Alicante (ESP).

•    The members welcomed the signing of the major partnership agreement between the European Gymnastics Union (UEG) and Kapital Bank of Azerbaijan.

•    The Executive Committee will propose that the Council changes the deadline for the registration of candidates for the organisation of the World Championships and the World Gymnaestrada: for the World Championships, 4 years prior the event, for the World Gymnaestrada, 5 years.

•    The modifications to the World Cup Regulations, as well as the regulations for the Judges’ Evaluation Programme (JEP) and its application were accepted.

 
André F. GUEISBUHLER
Secretary General

NB
The next meeting of the FIG Presidential Commission and Executive Committee will be held in Lausanne (SUI) / FIG Office, November 18 to 23, 2013.

 

LAUSANNE (SUI), FIG Office, April 30, 2013: Following her first literary success in December last year, American gymnast Gabrielle Douglas, two-time Gold medallist at the 2012 London Olympic Games, has just published her second book entitled, « Raising the Bar ».

The title gives fans a unique look at the life of a gymnast outside competition. Generously illustrated, it draws us into the life of an extraordinary woman, her family, and her friends through candid stories and quotes. Readers will love discovering what it’s like to walk down the red carpet, be interviewed on the set and work in the training hall; lessons she approaches with intelligence and hard work.

Read more at: http://zondervan.com/douglasg.

A time for reflection and for looking forward

Algiers (ALG) / UAG Head Office, April 25, 2013: The day after the election of the new President of the Union of African Gymnastics (UAG), Ali Zaater (ALG), his predecessor, Mohamed Yamani (ALG), delivered an assessment of his 23 years at the helm of the UAG.

Yamani was one of the signatories of the declaration that gave birth to the Union in Algiers back in October 1990, at the time of the inaugural African Gymnastics Championships. Prior to the official formation of the Union there had been numerous discussions and soundings on the topic, most notably in Tunis in 1988, aided by the enthusiastic support of Prof. Bruno Grandi, who was then FIG Vice-President.

In November 2011, an extraordinary general assembly took place in Gand (BEL), which was at the time hosting the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. The assembly ratified the UAG’s statutory and regulatory documents, which were drafted to conform with the recent organisational and structural changes at the FIG.

Since 2005, the presidents of each of the continental unions of the FIG have held a seat on the FIG Executive Committee. This has had significant benefits in terms of information flow and dissemination of the decisions taken by the FIG, and has also improved coordination, in particular with regard to the scheduling of the international event calendar.

The UAG and the South Africa Gymnastics Federation will welcome the 2nd World Gym For Life Challenge, in July 2013.

As new UAG President, Ali Zaater has both the profile and experience to carry out his mandate with calm authority. A former gymnast, who subsequently served as an international judge, President of the Algerian Gymnastics Federation and Vice-President of the Algerian NOC, which he continues to serve as Chief of Staff, he will now be looking to bring his experience and knowledge to bear for the benefit of the entire African continent.

The membership of the UAG executive body for the period 2013-2016 is as follows:

The presidents of the UAG’s technical committees for the same period are as follows:

In other news, South Africa has been chosen to host the 2014 African Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

New President for the Union

Algiers (ALG) / Lausanne (SUI) / FIG Office, April 17, 2013: The African Gymnastics Union (UAG) has elected a new President, Ali Zaater (ALG). He succeeds Algerian Mohamed Yamani, who after twenty years in office has stepped down. The new president swept the elections in a large majority win over Faycel Ben Ali Zemni of Tunisia, after Jerry Masia withdrew his candidacy at the last minute.

The former and the new UAG President. From the left: Mohamed Yamani and Ali Zaater.

At the close of the elections, Ali Zaater said he was “very pleased and proud to succeed Yamani, a man who stands as a model for each of us to follow, and whose qualities it will be difficult to match. These past months have been extremely tense, but things have turned out well. I was surrounded by competent people as well as a very crucial spirit of solidarity. Every entity involved extended solidarity and support, the Algerian Gymnastics Federation, the Algerian Olympic Committee, the Ministry of Youth and Sport: it was a national endeavour.”

For twenty years, Ali Zaater held the offices of UAG Secretary General and Chief of the Cabinet with the Algerian NOC. His experience and natural approach to people underpinned his ability to manage twenty-four Union member national federations. Some of the more weighty issues facing the new president include Olympic qualification for African gymnasts, regional support and the training of technicians.

The new UAG panel. From the left: Norbet Bueche (FIG), Ali Zaater (UAG), Mohamed Yamani (ALG), Albertine Goncalvez (SEN), Jerry Masia (RSA).

For this reason, Ali Zaater says he will reinforce contact with the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), with whom he shares close ties, for their participation at numerous assemblies and world championship events.

FIG Hon. Vice-President and former Secretary General, Mr Norbert Bueche, representing FIG President Prof. Bruno Grandi in Algiers, thanked the outgoing president for his consistent work, and extended his support and wishes for success to Ali Zaater in his new role.

The new UAG President will officiate for the first time in his term at the 13th FIG Council in Liverpool (GBR) in May.
 

FIG Artistic Gymnastics Age Group Programme
Port of Spain (TRI), April 8 – 12, 2013

LAUSANNE (SUI), FIG Office, April 16, 2013: The twentieth of a series of what will be 22 FIG Age Group Development and Competition Program Camps was hosted by the Gymnastics Federation of Trinidad and Tobago in the capital city of Port of Spain. The camp took place on April 8-12 at the Wood Brook Youth Facility. The lectures and the instruction for this camp were provided entirely in the English language.

Thirty-one coaches attended the camp of which thirty were from all parts of Trinidad and Tobago and one was Darius Fields, the President of the Barbados Gymnastics Federation who wanted to participate and learn more about the FIG Age Group Program for his country. Twenty-one were women’s coaches and nine coached men. It was a delight to have forty-nine gymnasts (9 boys and 40 girls) participate as demonstrators and for the coaches to work with. The enthusiasm and the large numbers of participants at the majority of these camps has been astounding, especially so since almost none of the countries to whom these camps were offered have much history in gymnastics.

These camps are intended to expose as many coaches as possible from the host country to the FIG Age Group Program so that it will be implemented and understood uniformly. That was certainly the case during this camp.

The FIG leader and expert for the camp was Andres Llanos Gerardino of Colombia but who now coaches in Panama. He has been a frequent WAG expert for the FIG Academy Program and had served as an expert also at the preceding Age Group Camps in Panama, El Salvador and Dominican Republic. A second expert was not available for this camp so that Andres had to use his past skills as a MAG gymnast and MAG coach to offer both the men’s and women’s part of the program and his organizational skills to keep some 80 gymnasts and coaches busy and interested.

The Age Group program includes a testing and monitoring program for MAG and WAG physical abilities and technical skills as well as a complete competition program with modified optional rules for age-group gymnasts and compulsory exercises for all ages. It also includes a variety of additional information related to developing a systematic gymnastics program that can lead to high performance. The program was developed by Hardy Fink for the competition program, Dieter Hofmann for the testing program and Carol-Angela Orchard for the dance and choreographic content. The second English edition of the published program and manual was used at this camp.

The five-day camp focused primarily on practical work in the gymnasium with coaches and their gymnasts on the various technical and physical tests, the compulsory exercises and the modified optional rules. Some theory background was provided to promote the FIG philosophy of protecting gymnasts during the growth years.

The organization of this camp by the Trinidad and Tobago Gymnastics Federation was exceptional. Thanks go to President Ricardo Lue Shue for the exceptional effort he made in all aspects of the organization and the personal interest he took in making this training camp a huge success. He also participated in the camp as a coach.

The introduction of the Age Group Program continues in May with the last two of this first series of training camps to be held in Vietnam and Philippines. Then after a very busy season of Age Group Camps, the FIG Academy Program will go into full swing with at least twenty-five academies for all disciplines and levels in the second half of the year.

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Japan’s Highest Honour

Lausanne (SUI) / Tokyo (JPN), April 11, 2013: On April 8, 2013, the Nippon Sport Science University (NSSU) in Tokyo granted the title of Dr Honoris Causa to Prof. Bruno Grandi (ITA), President of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). The distinction pays tribute to the professor’s career and stellar work inside international sport over more than fifty years.

A national-level gymnast as a teenager, coach and selector for Italy’s Men’s team, President of his federation, Vice-President of the Italian NOC, recipient of the Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit distinction, international judge and FIG President since 1996, Bruno Grandi has devoted his entire life to gymnast education and preservation, the reform and development of national and international structures and the fight for sport justice. He is unanimously applauded by his colleagues for his experience, integrity and enthusiasm.

The ceremony was held at Tokyo’s Nittaidai University in the presence of highly respected Japanese sport and scholarly authorities, notably Masato Mizuno, Noriyuki Ichihara, ChiharuIgaya, Vice-President, Executive Director and Honorary Member of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) respectively; as well as  Hidenori Futagi, President de la Japan Gymnastics Association (JGA), and Ryosho Tanigama, Shigeaki Abe and Daizo Hakamada, President and Vice-Presidents of Nippon Sport Science University (NSSU) respectively.

In his speech, Prof. Grandi expressed a commitment to taking up the challenge faced by gymnastics, particularly in terms of ethics and the development of the discipline’s artistic content. “My gratitude to Japan’s sport and scholarly authorities; I applaud the immense gymnastic culture and tradition that your country continues to foster today. This title honours the international gymnastics community to which I have devoted my entire career, and which I continue to serve. I am proud of how far we’ve come, and look forward to the objectives and mission I have embraced and with which the 130 FIG affiliated federations have entrusted me through a new mandate at the head of the FIG,” said the President at the close of the ceremony.
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Decisive times

Algiers (ALG) / UAG Office; April 9, 2013: With sixteen nations signed up and confirmed – making all federations traditionally registered with the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and its African Gymnastics Union (UAG) accounted for – the UAG Elective General Assembly will get off to an auspicious start on April 13 – 14 in Algiers.

Participants will examine the content and implementation of the quadrennial 2013 – 2016 programme, and study every area of UAG activity with two major objectives in mind: African selection for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro (BRA) and a development programme to meet existing expectations.

The assembly will also be a time to re-elect leaders, a new phase that promises to be full of unforeseen developments. Outgoing President and UAG founder, Mohamed Yamani, formally steps down from his mandate after twenty-three years of service, making room for one of the three running candidates: Mr Fayçal Zemni – President of the Gymnastics Federation of Tunisia, Mr Ali Zaater, candidate of the Algerian Federation, and Mr Jerry Masia – President of the South African Gymnastics Federation. The election is wide-open.

A large number of candidates have registered for the election of three Vice-Presidents, representing each of the geographical regions. The same is noted for seats on the Executive Board and various Committees.

The assembly will have the honour of the presence of FIG President, Prof. Bruno Grandi, as well as Honorary Vice-President and former Secretary General, Norbert Bueche.

A page is turning in the history of the Union, one which dates back to 1990.

Gym Kings crowned!

Tokyo (JPN) and Lausanne (SUI) / FIG Office, April 09, 2013: On April 7 – 8, a substantial public in the Japanese capital followed the final act of the Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics World Cup 2012 – 2013 in the All-around category.
With all FIG points tallied since the first stage in New York (USA) in March 2012, Marcel Nguyen (GER), Silver medallist at the OG London, takes the cake with 140 points in Men’s, just ahead of Britisher Daniel Purvis (125 pts) and Oleg Verniaiev (120 pts) of the Ukraine. US American Danel Leyva places 4th, somewhat disappointingly since he was unable to complete his exercise in Tokyo following an injury.

Marcel Nguyen (GER) and his coach Valeri Belenki.

In Women’s, Germany takes the trophy again with Elisabeth Seitz (125 points), while Elizabeth Price (USA - 100 pts) and Vanessa Ferrari (ITA – 95 points) follow in her wake.

The gymnasts and their respective coaches divvied up prize money that had been increased to include an enticing 100,000 CHF jackpot for the occasion!

Sold Out, and New Talent

The competition was held in the famous Komazawa Gymnasium in Tokyo, full to the last seat, and in the presence of FIG President, Prof. Bruno Grandi. Fans witnessed the victory of Ukraine’s Oleg Verniaiev over Ryohei Kato (JPN) – a possible new star and patronym! - and Daniel Purvis (GBR).

In Women’s, the triumph was Japanese with Asuka Teramoto heading the field over Peyton Ernst (USA) and Elsabeth Black (CAN): three talented young gymnasts who are sure to make headlines at the Antwerp worlds in September 2013. A swath of new faces made this event fascinating, indicating a whole new field of players in upcoming calendar events.
Next up in Artistic: April 16 – 28 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, for a World Cup stage for apparatus specialists.

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Competition close up!
By Koichi Endo, JGA Media Officer
Mens’ report
The World Cup started with seven excellent gymnasts and ended up with six. Danell Leyva of the USA did not compete. Nor did Kohei Uchimura of Japan.

Floor exercise had some excellent performances and stunts. Kato of Japan began with a very clean back with 3 1/2 twist to a front Sommie with half twist. Gonzales of Spain started out with a double back lay out with double twist and later had a laid out Thomas... one and a half back Sommie with a one and a half twist. Daniel Purvis included a handspring to double piked front Sommie, and later threw a double tucked front Sommie. Kazuhito Tanaka had one of his cleanest routines, including a laid out Thomas and a "V" hold to straight arm press to handstand. Marcel Nguyen did a very high double layout back Sommie with double twist and a laid out Morisue... one and a half back Sommie with a half twist on the last half Sommie. Sergio Sasaki Junior from Brazil did a very high arabian piked front Sommie and later a double tucked front Sommie.

Oleg Verniaiev started with a tucked double back Sommie with a triple twist. He landed badly, but that sort of difficulty was a warning to the other gymnasts of what to expect in the coming events.

MAG podium: 1. Oleg Verniaev (UKR); 2. Ryohei Kato (JPN); 3. Daniel Purvis (GBR).

Pommel horse did not include so much difficulty, but did include triple Russians on the end from Verniaiev, Purvis and Sasaki, who did his from a Tong Fei. Kato had a Magyar spindle.

On rings Nguyen and Verniaiev both did back roll to Maltese cross. Kato had the most interesting routine, however, with a back uprise and shoot to inverted crosses. The biggest surprise was Tanaka's triple back Sommie dismount! He landed badly and bit his tongue... which put him out of the competition.

On vault, both Sasaki and Verniaiev did Dragulescu.. (that is a two and a half front Sommie with half twist!)
Parallel bars included Nguyen's free hip to handstand on one bar and double back dismount with full twist. Verniaiev had a peach to cross handstand on one bar and double tucked front dismount. Sasaki included a particularly beautiful Moy to "L" and Balda... Tippelt to glide.

The most interesting combinations on horizontal bar were Sasaki's shoot with half to Kolmann (back Sommie with full twist to regrasp.) Nguyen had a laid out Kovacs (laid out back Sommie to regrasp) which he failed to regrasp. The most interesting routine by far was Verniaiev's. he had both Tkatchev (straddled reverse Hecht) with half twist and Cosmic (Voronin) with half twist.

Competition was close all the way to the end. Even small mistakes (or tremendous performances) would move one up just a little bit in the competition...

Verniaiev was the big surprise in the meet, but Kato (especially on side horse and rings) will be worth paying attention to in the future.

Women’s report

On vault, most of the competitors did round off back dive to the horse and layout back Sommie with full or double full twist. Asuka Teramoto of Japan did a double twist... Peyton Ernst of the USA did a high one. The most interesting vault was by Elsabeth Black of Canada. She did a handspring piked front Sommie with full twist.

Uneven parallel bars had some interesting performances. The most interesting was Shang of China, who, from dislocated giants, did a half twist to a regular grip handstand to free hip circle to reverse hecht piked. (piatti.) Later, she did a Tkatchev (reverse hecht) to an immediate Jaeger. (straddled piked front Sommie to regrasp.) Elsabeth Black, for her mount, did a kip to hop to reverse grip followed by a Jaeger, and dismounted with a one foot circle to kick open with half twist and layout back Sommie (Comaneci.) Huang of China did lots of full twisting giants in and out of dislocated giants.

WAG podium: 1. Asuka Teramoto (JPN); 2. Pexton Ernst (USA); 3. Elsabeth Black (CAN).

On balance beam, Japan's Yu Minobe mounted with a round off to the board and layout back Sommie (legs together) to the beam... but she fell off this, her best event, later. Payton Ernst of the US had a standing layout back Sommie from a stand... no round off or back handspring. Teramopto of Japan had a triple turn and dismounted with a triple twisting laid out back Sommie.

Floor exercise had some interesting performances. Shang of China started with a triple twisting back Sommie followed by a punch front Sommie! She also had a quadruple turn on one foot. Meneghini of Italy set her routine to Offenbach's Gaité Parisienne, the French Cancan! Payton Ernst had a very high arabian double front Sommie. Teramoto had a laid out back Sommie with 2 1/2 twist followed by a laid out front Sommie, and also used a triple turn on one leg.

Did Teramoto deserve to win? She had consistent routines, and plenty of difficulty. She wasn't as strong of leg as some of the other athletes (such as Black) but was smart enough not to try anything she couldn't do well.

FIG Artistic Gymnastics Age Group Programme
Abuja (NGR), March 18-22, 2013
Pretoria (RSA), March 20-24, 2013

LAUSANNE (SUI), FIG Office, April 5, 2013: Three more of the seven FIG 5-day Age Group Program Camps on the African continent were completed in the week leading up to Easter. These were held in Congo, Senegal and Mozambique. In the previous two weeks, similar camps were held in Namibia, Nigeria and South Africa. The final African camp begins in Zimbabwe on April 2.

Each of these countries is basically at the beginner level of high-performance gymnastics, but each has in the past had times of gymnastics success that they are now hoping to re-create.

For various reasons, each of the FIG Age Group Camps were taught by only one expert.

REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO:
The camp in Congo was hosted in the capital city of Brazzaville in the Lycée Anne Marie Javouhey. It was hosted from March 25-29 and conducted in the French language.

A surprisingly large numer of coaches attended this FIG Age Group Camp in a country not known for gymnastics. But Congo has in the last year shown a keen interest in advancing all disciplines of the sport. Thirty-five coaches attended – 23 for MAG and 12 for WAG. All were Congo citizens.

The FIG leader and expert for the camp was Guy Lavoie who is the Education Coordinator for the Province of Quebec in Canada and a successful MAG and WAG coach. Unfortunately, this time he had to teach alone as the second expert appointed by the FIG accidently received a visa in her passport that expired before the time of the flight so she was not permitted to board the airplane.

The President of the Congo Gymnastics Federation, François Bakana, handled all of the advance organization. He was assisted by other members of the Congo executive committee during the camp.

These camps are intended to expose as many coaches as possible from the host country to the FIG Age Group Program so that it will be implemented and understood uniformly.

The Age Group program includes a testing and monitoring program for MAG and WAG physical abilities and technical skills as well as a complete competition program with modified optional rules for age-group gymnasts and compulsory exercises for all ages. It also includes a variety of additional information related to developing a systematic gymnastics program that can lead to high performance. The program was developed by Hardy Fink for the competition program, Dieter Hofmann for the testing program and Carol-Angela Orchard for the dance and choreographic content. The just completed second Spanish edition of the published program and manual was used at this camp.

REPUBLIC OF SÉNÉGAL:
This FIG Age Group Camp was held at the CNEPS in the city of Thiès at its Centre International de Gymnastique (CNEPS) inaugurated by the FIG President Bruno Grandi five years ago. Sénégal has had a very active five years of gymnastics and much assistance from the FIG with the provision of a set of apparatus in CNEPS for the 2008 African Championships, the hosting of five academies, a Africa Zone 2 Age Group Camp and the FIG Age Group Program Introductory Camp last year. This camp was held on exactly the same dates as the one in the Congo – March 25-29.

Perhaps because of the Age Group Camp and Introductory Camps, a disappointing eight of 17 registered coaches participated. They were evenly split between MAG and WAG. However, the level of knowledge of the participating coaches was quite high because of all of the previous FIG education opportunities they had encountered. The camp was taught in the English language with French translation.

The FIG leader and expert for the camp was well-known and enthusiastic gymnastics educator and coaching blogger Rick McCharles of Canada. He travelled directly from the Age Group Camp in Nigeria and once again had to teach alone as the second expert appointed by the FIG could not get an entry visa for Nigeria in time and this led to the cancellation of the entire round-trip ticket.

Many thanks for the continuing support of gymnastics development and the organizational work go to Sénégal Technical Director, Léandre FORBIS and to Sénégal Gymnastics Federation President and NOC Vice-President Albertine Gonçalves.

The Age Group program includes a testing and monitoring program for MAG and WAG physical abilities and technical skills as well as a complete competition program with modified optional rules for age-group gymnasts and compulsory exercises for all ages. It also includes a variety of additional information related to developing a systematic gymnastics program that can lead to high performance. The program was developed by Hardy Fink for the competition program, Dieter Hofmann for the testing program and Carol-Angela Orchard for the dance and choreographic content. The just completed second Spanish edition of the published program and manual was used at this camp.

REPUBLIC OF MOZAMBIQUE:
The FIG Age Group Training Camp in Mozambique was held in the capital city of Maputo at the Faculdade de Educacao Fisica E Desporto. It was held March 26-20. Mozambique had had the most successful gymnastics history of the three countries mentioned here. It had a successful gymnastics program during the time of Portuguese occupation and again in the late 1980’s when a number of coaches from the former East Germany coached here. Seven years ago, after many years of gymnastics stagnation, Edmundo Ribeiro formed the current Mozambique Gymnastics Federation and hopes to promote the sport throughout the country. 

Twenty-six coaches from all parts of the country attended the camp. Sixteen attended for MAG and ten for WAG. Three of the coaches were citizens of Portugal. There were eight demonstrator gymnasts but at very low level. Many of the participating coaches were in their early twenties and were able to serve as demonstrators for the various aspects of the Age Group Program. The course was taught in English and Portuguese translation.

The FIG leader and expert for the camp was Hardy Fink, the Director of FIG Education & Academy Programs. This was the third stop of a four-camp tour. He travelled directly form South Africa. It had been hoped that one of the two Portuguese experts would be able to join him but they were unavailable because of preparing their gymnasts for the European Championships.

The organizer for all parts of the camp was President Edmundo Ribeiro who also helped translate and participated in the camp as a coach. His energy will certainly help Mozambique advance in gymnastics. Thank you also to Luis Gonçalves who did most of the translating.

These three five-day camps In Congo, Sénégal and Mozambique focused primarily on practical work in the gymnasium with coaches and their gymnasts on the various technical and physical tests, the compulsory exercises and the modified optional rules. Some theory background was provided to promote the FIG philosophy of protecting gymnasts during the growth years and also about effective strength and flexibility training.

Two FIG Age Group Training Camps will begin on April 2. One will be in Zimbabwe and another in Costa Rica. After that, there will be three more – Trinidad, Vietnam and Philippines and that will end this series of such camps and four years of funding by the IOC to help develop and present the program to developing gymnastics countries around the world. 
 

100,000 CHF Jackpot up for grabs in Tokyo!

The final act in the 2012 / 2013 Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series is slated for April 6 – 7 at Tokyo’s Metropolitan Komazawa Olympic Park. The final brings together male and female elite All-arounders from all over the world, the best complete gymnasts able to master the 6 and 4 apparatus on the programme, respectively.

Launched in New York (USA) in 2012, the series pits the top-ranking 8 male and female gymnasts against each other: Sergio Sasaki Junior (BRA), Fabian Gonzalez (ESO), Daniel Purvis (GBR), Marcel Nguyen (GER), Ryyohei Kato (JPN), Kazuhito Tanaka (JPN), Danell Leyva (USA),  Oleg Verniaiev (UKR) as well as Elsabeth Black, (CAN), Huang Qiushang (CHN), Shang Chusong (CHN), Charlie Fellows (GBR), Elisa Meneghini (ITA), Asuka Teramoto (JPN), Yu Minobe (JPN) and Peyton Ernst (USA).

Ranking list me/ho  -  Ranking wo/fe

Coach Valeri Belenki and Marcel Nguyen.

In addition to the traditional 50,000 CHF prize money presented to the 8 ranking gymnasts, another 50,000 CHF Jackpot will be distributed to the top 3 gymnasts and coaches. And if Marcel Nguyen holds the fort, he’ll take home 24,000 CHF in bonus money, his coach Valéri Belenki 6,000 CHF!

Another Jack Pot of CHF 50’000 will be also presented to the top 3 women’s gymnasts!

Trophies and prize money to be awarded Sunday afternoon in Tokyo!

About 2012 / 2013 FIG Artistic Gymnastics All-around World Cup Series

The 2012 / 2013 FIG All-around World Cup Series in Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics includes five World Cups over the period of two years.

With stopovers on three continents, World Cup competitions of this series took place on March 3 in New York (USA), December 1 – 2 in Stuttgart (GER) and December 8 in Glasgow (GBR) in 2012, before turning to Worcester (USA) on March 2, 2013, and concluding in Tokyo (JPN) on April 6 – 7, 2013.

The All-around World Cups feature a single final round. Invitation is based on the CII rankings from the previous World Championships / Olympic Games and limited to eight gymnasts plus one wild card from the organising member federation, with a maximum of two entries per country.

World Ranking lists will be established for men and women, with the best three results per gymnast counting for the total ranking. The top scorers will be crowned the winners of the overall series at the ultimate event of the series.
Consult the 2012 / 2013 Rules for the FIG All-around World Cup Series in Artistic Gymnastics for more details.