BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 8
Trend:
This General Assembly marked the elections of the EOC Authorities. I would like to congratulate Spyros Capralos (GRE) on his election as the EOC President, Farid Gayibov, European Gymnastics President said, Trend reports citing his statement.
"In early June I was a part of the 50th General Assembly of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) taking place in Athens (GRE) on June 10 -11, 2021.
This General Assembly marked the elections of the EOC Authorities. I would like to congratulate Spyros Capralos (GRE) on his election as the EOC President. I wish Mr. Capralos and the members of the newly elected Executive Committee success in their term ahead.
European Gymnastics closely cooperates with the EOC on the European Games and the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF). I am confident that our partnership will continue to be efficient and fruitful in the future.
From Athens, I set out for Varna (BUL) which hosted the European Championships in Rhythmic Gymnastics on June 9 - 13, 2021.
Having a proud heritage in Rhythmic Gymnastics, Bulgaria organized the event perfectly. I would like to express my gratitude to the Local Organizing Committee of the Bulgarian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation, at the head of it its’ President Ms. Iliana Raeva, for all their efforts which turned into successful competitions.
The gymnasts benefitted from the conditions created by the Organizers and took their last chance to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. These competitions were also a qualification for the World Championships for the first time. I would like to congratulate the gymnasts for their brilliant performances at this event where representatives from 37 countries competed. We reached this number for the last few years when gymnasts from countries with comparatively fewer gymnastics traditions also started to join our events and until now continue to take part in them. This makes us happy as it shows the popularity of this discipline across the Continent.
Another thing that made these Championships memorable was the stands full of spectators at the Palace of Culture & Sport. It was electrifying to finally feel the atmosphere of eager fans cheering on their stars again. I am sure our gymnasts were also pleased to see and hear again the loud applause and the support which they deserve. In addition to that, we had many viewers for the livestream during the qualifications. All the technical issues from the last European Championships were eliminated and 80’000 people were able to watch the competitions online. This fact also proved the popularity of Rhythmic Gymnastics," he said.
"Another competition of the month was the World Age Group Competitions (June 23 - 29, 2021), followed by the World Championships (July 2 - 4, 2021) in Acrobatic Gymnastics held in Geneva (SUI).
These Worlds were planned to be held in 2020 but postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, the Acrobatic Gymnastics family was able to take part in these long-awaited events.
Unfortunately, being an event in a non-Olympic discipline, Acrobatics did not have a high number of participants. We saw this already at the previous and again at this year’s Worlds in Aerobic and Acrobatic Gymnastics. One of the priorities of the newly elected FIG Executive Committee should be an activity plan directed to the promotion and further development of these Gymnastics disciplines within the next Cycle.
Between the competitions we had a meeting of the Presidential Board and Executive Committee of European Gymnastics (June 18 & 19, 2021), unfortunately, this time still in the online format. There were discussions on proposals for changes in the Technical Regulations to be approved at our September meeting. One of these changes concerns amendments in competition formats of European Championships. We know that the Europeans in Rhythmic Gymnastics (starting from 2021) and Artistic Gymnastics (from 2022) now are qualifying events for the World Championships. The subsequent changes should find their reflection in the European Gymnastics Technical Regulations accordingly.
Furthermore, the 2020 accounts were approved and 2 European Championships have found their hosts. Thus, the 2023 European Championships in Aerobic Gymnastics and the 2024 European Championships in Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics will be held in Antalya (TUR) and Napoli (ITA) accordingly. I am confident that we undoubtedly will have good events in both cities.
Here we are – the qualifications for the Tokyo Olympic Games have been wrapped up last month and we are at the home straight for the Games.
I sincerely congratulate all the athletes who qualified for Tokyo 2020. Very soon we will find ourselves plunged into the thrill of the long-awaited Games.
Good luck to all athletes for their final preparations!" he added.