FIG Aerobic Gymnastics World Cup B
Ponta Delgada (POR), May 10 – 12, 2013

China impresses!

Lausanne (SUI) / FIG Office, May 14, 2013: Under the sun of Punta Delgada (POR), the FIG Aerobic Gymnastics World Cup kept its promise! With a spicy line-up that showcased most of the discipline’s specialists, the Portuguese public of the Teatro Micaelense was not disappointed.

The Women’s Individual event went neck and neck, with Sara Moreno of Spain, title-holding World champion, adding a new medal to her long list of achievements by 5 small hundredths of a point (21.000)! Behind her, Oana Constatin of Romania (20.950) and Elena Rosca of Portugal (20.250), who notched the best absolute score. It was a proud moment for her coach, Ana Macanita!

Solid success for Benjamin Garavel (FRA) in men's Individuals (20.900). 7th at the Worlds in Sofia 2012, the French gymnast is in top form and likely to stay that way for the World Games in July. In second place, Kai Feng of China, who made his first significant result at this level of competition (20.550). The Bronze went to Ryo Koreeda (JPN – 20.350), who generally lines up in Mixed Pairs.

In the MXP category (picture), the Romanian Pair Bogati / Iordan took the lead with 19.950 points. Andrea Bogati is the title-holding World champ alongside Valentin Mavrodineanu , who was absent from Punta Delgada. In second place, Rosca / Faquinha of Portugal lacked the difficulty needed to take first (19.800). For the Bronze, Feng / Yang of China earned 19.650 - a first significant result for them.

The Romanian Trio Surdu / Bogati / Constantin (20.844) had no problems whatsoever skyrocketing ahead of China’s Ma / Ji / Yu (20.066) and Russia’s Kulikov / Konacova / Bykov (19.633).

Groups is an up and coming category for China. In 2012 in Sofia, the gymnasts from the Middle Empire pocketed Gold in Groups, both Dance and Step! And in Punta Delgada, the Chinese Group crushed Xu / Feng / Ma / Quin / Ji yet again with 20.150, taking the lead on Russia and China 2.

Chinese gymnasts shone in every category on the Gymnova floor in Punta Delgada. Fourth in Individual Women, Silver in Men’s, Bronze in Mixed Pairs, Silver in Trio and Gold and Bronze in Groups! Let those qualified for the upcoming World Games in July be forewarned!

A short break followed Portugal. On May 18 – 19, the entire caravan will stop in Borovets (BUL) for an ultimate FIG World Cup stage in the discipline, after which the trophies will be awarded.

About 2013 FIG Aerobic Gymnastics World Cup Series

The 2013 FIG World Cup circuit in Aerobic Gymnastics includes five category B events, all featuring Qualification rounds and Finals in Men’s and Women’s Individual, Mixed Pair, Trio and Group categories.

With stopovers on two continents, the competitions are slated for March 23-24 in Aix-les-Bains (FRA), April 6-7 in Tokyo (JPN), May 10-12 in Ponta Delgada (POR) and May 18-19 in Borovets (BUL). The world ranking points collected by the competitors will add up to a total with their best four results from the circuit counting, and the top scorers in each discipline will be crowned winners of the overall series at the final event in Borovets.

Consult the FIG World Cup Rules 2013 for Aerobic Gymnastics for more details.

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.

 

Judges from China and Korea go back to school!

Lausanne (SUI)/ FIG Office, April 25, 2013: Success across the board for two Aerobic Gymnastics International Judges Courses held recently in Asia: Shanghai (CHN) and Seoul (KOR)!

At the outset of this cycle, two federations that are giving their full attention to judge education boast the greatest number of international judges worldwide for Aerobic Gymnastics, with a total of 29 for China and 37 for Korea.

Held March 7 – 10, the first course welcomed 26 judges (25 CHN and 1 TPE). Candidates expressed their unanimous satisfaction with the curriculum and are now ready for active service. FIG Technical Committee President for the discipline, Ms Mireille Ganzin (FRA), taught the course in collaboration with her devoted interpreter “Dodo”, and the efficient participation of Ms Wang Youping and Zou Yan.

Judges' course in Shanghaï (CHN)

42 participated in the second course held in Seoul (4 MGL, 1 VIE and 37 KOR), also taught by Mireille Ganzin, who was assisted by Mr Wang Hong, FIG AER Technical Committee member. Yet again, the highly-attended international course was deemed successful thanks to the coordination efforts of BK Chung, Vice-President of the Korea Gymnastics Association (KGA), interpreter and candidate himself, as well as Ms Song Young Hee. Together they made sure every detail was in order to ensure smooth running.

The time in Seoul was also a platform for meeting and exchange, notably with the participation of Mr Kim Dae Won, KGA and NOC member; Mr Soh Jeong Ho, member of the KGA and the Korean Sports Confederation; and Mr Kim Dong Min, also KGA member and a representative of the Asian Gymnastics Union to the FIG Council.

Judges' course in Seoul.

Korean Perspective

A high-profile interview saw President Mireille Ganzin meeting with the President of the Korea Gymnastics Association (KGA), Ms Jee Young You, also member of the Korean National Assembly. In an aside, they discussed future opportunities presented by the FIG international competitions calendar, specifically the 2016 world championships, year of the FIG elective Congress for which Korea shows a growing interest.

More to come.