European gymnastics emerged from post-Olympic hibernation in mid-April in Moscow. The official title of this competition is quite a mouthful “The 5th European Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Championships”. The title of European AA champion has, however, been awarded since 1957 (WAG) and 1955 (MAG), respectively. The UEG now hosts a European Championship every year, albeit with different formats. The Moscow edition was for senior gymnasts with men and women competing for all-around and event final titles. In the even years, the championships are open to seniors and juniors with team and event finals for both age categories. There is no all-around for the seniors but a junior European all-around champion is crowned in a separate competition. The junior team competition is decided after one round of qualification while the seniors have a qualification and a separate team final. Are you still reading? Are you confused? The author doesn’t blame you. It is increasingly hard to keep track of the different formats at European and world level. Hardly something that will draw the media to a sport that is already pretty complicated.
While it is fashionable to lament the downfall of all things European, this competition is probably still the most important continental competition. Over half of the artistic gymnasts qualified to the London Olympics represented European federations. Six of the women’s and eight of the men’s teams in London were from Europe. Both Steve Butcher and Nellie Kim were in Moscow with TC members Lyubov Burda-Andrianova and Holger Albrecht also present. But Europe’s prowess in the sport is not reflected off the mats. The Europeans were the big losers of last year’s FIG elections. With UEG external communication virtually non-existent, it is hard to judge the organisation’s politics and goals. The last newsletter included sentences like: “Talking about the future with a vision we all share, full of doubts, some points must be mentioned with regard to the planning of an activity, which concerns a concrete reality; we must remain lucid on profiles whose reliability must be acceptable.“ Overall, it sounded more like a bad parody of one of Bruno Grandi’s letters than an official communication from one of the sport’s most important governing bodies.

Home rule

The vast Olympiskiy sports complex on Prospekt Mira lent a feeling of grandeur to an event that has also been held in school gyms. One half of the arena was taken up by the enormous training gym with multiple sets of equipment spread out generously. The actual competition area only took up a quarter of the entire building. There is always a certain feeling of the morning after a huge party when a new Olympic cycle starts. Some stars move on after the party, some take time off to heal their battle wounds. The Individual European Championships are always held very early in the season, meaning gymnasts must be routine ready even earlier than usual. Throw in the rebuilding phase that many teams are going through at this stage of the cycle and the inevitable changes to the Code of Points… Well, you don’t always see the best gymnastics at this competition. Moscow was actually one of the better post-Olympic Europeans. The hosts dominated the competition, grabbing six of the twelve titles. Both prestigious all-around titles went to Russia – the first time since 1998 that Russia has held both the MAG and WAG title simultaneously. It’s hard to believe this title was actually Aliya Mustafina’s first individual European gold. She lead her team to victory in Birmingham in 2010 but did not win an individual gold until now. One of the few top gymnasts from the London Olympics to have continued without a break, Mustafina’s competitive drive and presence on the floor make her a welcome stand out in a sport sadly lacking personalities. Just hours before her win, David Belyavskiy took his first international title after a very focused competition. His first emotional reaction came only after his fifth event, pommel horse. The 21-year-old , orphaned early in life, was raised by his grandmother Lyudmila Belyavskaya whom he calls his biggest fan. Coached by Valeriy Lomayev, Belyavskiy’s ascent has been steady (6th AA in Tokyo 2011, 5th AA in London 2012 – he was the third best European on both occasions).

No rest for Nguyen

The men’s competition in Moscow was really good. Russia, Ukraine and Great Britain all looked fresh, interesting and highly competitive. Something that could not be said of Marcel Nguyen. Coming off an excellent Olympics, Nguyen definitely seemed in need of a holiday. He competed tirelessly following the Olympics, attending all four AA World Cups. Was he going to treat himself to a break after these championships? “Well,” he said with a smirk, “next weekend we have the Bundesliga [German club league], so that’s a no.” The Bundesliga kept Nguyen busy for the three weekends after the European championships, the German national championships are this coming weekend. No rest for the weary… Would the federation have preferred Nguyen, who won the World Cup series, had focussed on Europeans instead? “Because we advocate the World Cup system we made sure that he took part in all the World Cup competitions. Even in Tokyo where he didn’t have to compete [Nguyen had already secured the overall title prior to Tokyo],” federation president Rainer Brechkten declared. “It is our opinion that the general public expects the best gymnasts to compete at each competition. For instance, the best athletes also compete in the final competition in skiing even if they already know who will win. On the other hand I have to say I can’t overload my guys. He needs a break as well. That’s why we agreed that he would only compete individual events here. However, I can only say that just focusing on individual aspects is not going to work in the long run. In that regard, I think this was quite a good learning experience here.”

Desperately seeking… WAG

The lack of depth in women’s gymnastics must be worrying to both the FIG and the UEG. Only 74 female gymnasts competed in Moscow, only eight federations sent the maximum total of four gymnasts. Even Romania only fielded two gymnasts. While Larisa Iordache and Diana Bulimar looked strong and won six medals between them, one can assume that Romania had no other competitor fit for the European level at the time. That most likely won’t matter in the long run. Romania will be fine once the really important competitions come along. They are always fine in the end. But the total picture for WAG is not good. No matter how exciting men’s gymnastics is, women’s gymnastics is the big seller. Ksenia Afanasyeva managed fifth place in qualifications despite a badly crashed bars dismount and a tentative beam set. Her total of 55.099 was still 4.736 points higher than that of the gymnast who qualified to the all-around final in 24th place. That’s over a point per apparatus. Only three of the fifteen WAG medals in Moscow where not won by a gymnast from Russia or Romania, and the all-around, beam and floor were exclusively contested between these federations.

The balance beam situation

Aliya Mustafina presented a completely revamped beam routine in Moscow, a routine that – if it goes well – has the potential to be stunning. It didn’t go well at all in qualification with a number of large wobbles and two falls. Beam could be a very interesting piece of apparatus in this cycle. In theory, the routines are supposed to be radically different from what we saw last cycle. Larisa Iordache is impressive with great stability and difficulty (RO-layout to two feet, ff-full, triple twist dismount) and even finds time to smile. On the other hand, the routine does not flow and has very little choreography. The Russians seem to be choosing a completely different approach – their routines are stacked with new combinations and move better from skill to skill. That is, when their routines work out. There were a lot of wobbles and falls but some very ambitious and interesting combinations like Grishina’s Onodi to illusion and Mustafina’s switch half-Onodi-double turn. Only time will tell which route the judging will take.

Swiss joy

Switzerland had a fantastic outing to the Russian capital. Giulia Steingruber’s vault title was not a surprise but she also wowed as an all-arounder. Tied for fourth place, Steingruber was a genuine contender, not just a competitor. Her full-twisting double layout on floor is a thing of beauty. Lucas Fischer’s joy when he realised he had won the silver on parallel bars was delightful. Fischer had battled a long stream of injuries and illness to come back to this level. He has also found an outlet in singing – check out his cover version of Adele’s “Someone Like You” on youtube. He was deducted three tenths in qualifications because he screamed for joy after his routine. In a sport full of rules, do we really need to deduct gymnasts for being happy?

Onward to Bulgaria … or?

No official announcement has been made where the next Europeans will be held. There is no information on the venue for 2015 either, perhaps a testament to the problem the UEG has trying to secure hosts for the event. Moscow was actually not officially announced until last October. Rumour in Moscow had it that the 2014 Europeans will be in Bulgaria .

The championships were originally awarded to the city of Kazan on the Volga but had to be moved to Moscow at reasonably short notice for organisational reasons. Kazan will host the Universiade this summer and the podium and apparatus used in Moscow will move there. “This is not only the first major competition of the Olympic cycle but we also have a new Code of Points,” Russian head coach Andrey Rodionenko said. “I want to believe that we will see a new direction of gymnastics here, not only individual skills but a whole new direction.”

The gymnasts are split in to three subdivisions. In the first subdivision Russia had the biggest names with Olympians Anastasia Grishina and Maria Paseka. Paseka will only compete vault and bars. On vault, she did not show the Amanar but did a couple of double twisting Yurchenkos and the RO-1/2 on-front layout ½ off. Her bars included a toe-on Shapshnikova, Tkachev to Pak and a double front dismount. Grishina trained all four events but did not quite seem ready on floor and vault. She fell on her double-twisting Yurchenko vault and initially struggled a bit on bars but pulled it together in later attempts. On beam, her work was as light as ever with a combination of Onodi to illusion. She had both her legs taped from below the knee to the just above the ankles and opted to do both her beam and floor dismounts (double pike) as individual skills and not during the routine but completed them both successfully.
First year seniors Gabrielle Jupp (GBR/full-twisting double layout dismount off bars) and Elisa Meneghini (ITA/double front mount on floor) showed strong and confident work across the board.

Romania took to the floor in the second subdivision and they looked very strong. Both gymnasts vaulted double twisting Yurchenkos and tumbled strongly on floor. Larisa Iordache’s double-double was spotted by Octavian Bellu. Diana Bulimar, who competes her tumbling like it’s nothing, trained a full-twisting double layout (also spotted), followed up with a pass of double layout. Iordache had no problem finishing up her job on floor (full-in, triple twist, double tuck) even when the music cut out. Bars, their old nemesis, went smoothly if not brilliantly. Beam was easy for them. Iordache did only one full (tucked) in her routine and had a wobble on the full turn with leg held at 180 but worked very efficiently. While the confidence is impressive, the business like approach does not make up for the lack of fluidity. One of the most interesting questions of these European championships will surely be what direction the judging on beam will take.

The third and final subdivision had two more big guns in it – Aliya Mustafina and Ksenia Afanasyeva. The latter reportedly attempted an Amanar which was missed by the TAA because the UEG opening press conference was held during the first part of this subdivision. Mustafina did not do a full routine on bars, but hit most of her combinations (piked stalder full on the low bar to Shaposhnikova ½; stalder full to Pak to stalder half). She still opted for her “easy” dismount of full-twisting double tuck but it was stuck cold. On beam, she wobbled and fell on her first try but then pulled out a decent showing (with just a timer for the ff to back tuck series) which included a standing Arabian. She really struggled with the combination of Onodi to double turn. After trying again and again under the guidance of beam coach Raisa Ganina, she finally succeeded.
The Dutch duo of Chantysha Netteb and Noel van Klaveren vaulted nice double twisting Yurchenkos and impressed overall with clean gymnastics. Also in this subdivision Giulia Steingruber who had no problems with her rudi on vault.

It looks like there will be the expected Romania-Russia showdown for the all-around title but the fight for the top ten places looks to be quite open and very exciting.

The German Gymnastics Federation (DTB) is dealing with serious financial problems. In 2006 the country’s second largest sports federation decided to rebuild its headquarters in Frankfurt. At the time, the original building was in such a state of disrepair that it was deemed financially more feasible to rebuild the complex than to renovate the old one. The project was given the catchy name Gym Academy. The budgeted cost was 13 Mio Euros. The initial plan was for a building that would house mainly the federation’s administration but also offer a number of beds for gymnasts training on site at the training centre. The training centre is mainly home to regional gymnasts but is also used for national training camps.
What was finally opened in 2011 was the Lindner Hotel & Sports Academy, a five story building with offices and a hotel with 111 beds, a restaurant and a bar. Total cost: 38.9 million Euros. What went wrong? Well, evidently a lot. The company initially in charge of the planning went bankrupt. Then, the construction work was slowed down due to an unusually harsh winter. Then, a number of upgrades and extensions were decided on until the budget had ballooned into nearly three times the original sum. The hotel is located relatively far from the city centre but close to the airport. Though this convenience does mean that guests have endure constant noise from one of the world’s busiest airports.

The DTB took out loans for a total of over 30 million Euros – signed for by Federation president Rainer Brechkten and former vice president for Administration & Finances Heinz-Joachim Güllüg. Güllüg resigned in January 2013. In 2012 the DTB hit really hard times when – according to their own internal reports – the banks were no longer willing to lend them money and the federation was faced with a financial gap of 1.8 million Euros. In desperation, the federation turned to its regional member federations for help. They were asked to pay double membership dues for 2013 – in exchange for not paying any dues at all in 2018. Six of the 22 federations ultimately refused, the others paid – some of them forced to take out loans of their own to raise the money. DTB is currently paying 2 million Euros a year in repayments and interest. “We have an income of about 1.2-1.3 million a year that’s guaranteed,” Brechtken told German national radio Deutschlandfunk.

Alfred Metzger, whose surname ironically translates to butcher, is the new man in charge of the money as vice president for Finances & Administration. In a recent interview with German news agency dpa, he insisted that the danger of bankruptcy had been averted. “But we have to be clear that this solution does not solve the problem. It only postpones it. It will reappear in 2018.”

The financial problems have lead to cut backs. The federation lacks 130.000 Euros a year for top level sports and has completely withdrawn its funding from the DTB Gymnastics Centres around the country. These centres are usually funded from various sources, one of which is the DTB. They are not facing closure but the lack of funds will be felt. Brechtken insists these cut backs were decided on years ago. Coaching jobs are in jeopardy as are jobs at the Frankfurt headquarters. To make matters worse, the federation recently lost one of its sponsors, Lotto. The 2015 World RG Championships – an Olympic qualification event – are, however, expected to go ahead in Stuttgart as planned.

The DTB reacted nervously to initial media reports about the situation and called an impromptu press conference during the Stuttgart World Cup where a visibly unsettled president Rainer Brechtken provided his version of the events to the media. That mainly consisted of a statement that unforeseen circumstances such as the harsh winter had lead to higher costs but everything was fine and totally under control. No worries. He actually needn’t have worried then. At the time, most journalists present were more focussed on how many likes Marcel Nguyen’s Facebook page had and what exactly the deal was with his tattoo. But since then the story has taken flight in the German media, and the unrest within the gym community is growing. Brechtken insisted in an interview with Frankfurter Rundschau on 26 January : “We admittedly have problems due to additional costs for the new construction of our headquarters. But we do not have a crisis.”

Spain’s national team system is similar to Russia, China and Romania, with a permanent national team concentrated in Madrid. They live, train and go to school together under the supervision of the National coaching staff (Jesús Carballo, Eva Rueda, Lucía Guisado). A few years ago the system was modified to allow gymnasts to train at their regional training centres with monthly training camps in Madrid and prior to big competitions. This system makes girls take decisions about their future in early steps of their gymnastics career and makes them move from home to the training centre. The moving and the distance from their families is usually a big issue and struggle for the girls who sometimes drop the sport and go back to a normal life.

Older and iconic Spanish gymnasts also have emerged defending Jesús Carballo of these allegations claiming that in all their years under his tutelage they never suffered any abuse. Among them Lidia Castillejos (1988 Olympian), the Fraguas sisters, Cristina Fraguas and Sonia Fraguas, Ruth Rollán and Alicia Fernández (1992 Olympians); Mercedes Pacheco, Monica Martin, Diana Plaza (1996 Olympians), Paloma Moro (2000 Olympian), Tania Gener (2004 Olympian), Laura Campos (2008 Olympian). Also Ana Destefano (1996 Olympian for Argentina) signed in the petition that has been circulating in Spanish gymnastics circle in support of Carballo. Argentina’s gymnasts used to hold training camps in Madrid.

This petition has reached nearly 1000 signatures in Change.org

http://www.change.org/petitions/consejo-superior-de-deportes-apoyo-a-jes%C3%BAs-carballo-seleccionador-nacional-de-gaf-y-gam-1978-2013?utm_campaign=action_box&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=share_petition#description

The stories about life in Madrid being very strict and controlled have floated around the Spanish gymnastics community for several decades, but no allegation has ever been made. So far, only the gymnasts supporting Carballo have spoken out and made their names public; with the name of the complainer and others that might agree is unknown or uncertain at the moment.

Team final disaster

The much-anticipated men’s team final turned out to be a real low light of the year. Not for the competition. That was great. But for what happened afterwards. Kohei Uchimura fell on his pommel horse dismount, inviting debate whether the skill should be credited. His score left Japan in fourth place behind China, Great Britain and Ukraine. Or so it seemed. Then, the Japanese team submitted an inquiry. What followed was a clinic in bad crisis management and a public embarrassment to the FIG. Over what seemed like hours, members of the Men’s Technical Committee – allegedly the ultimate authority in the sport- deliberated, discussed, watched and re-watched Uchimura’s dismount. On live TV. Worldwide. The Japanese delegation was shown handing over money. On live TV. Worldwide.

Handing over money is entirely according to the rules – an inquiry costs 300 USD. But the average TV viewer could be forgiven for thinking Japan was openly buying its way to a team medal. Uchimura’s score went up by 0.7. The D jury – Pablo Carilles (ESP) and Teruaki Takeuchi (JPN) – remained staunch in their opinion that Uchimura did not perform a dismount. “I looked at Takeuchi and he said: No dismount,” Carilles told Spanish newspaper El País during the Olympics. Carilles said he and Takeuchi received a standing ovation from a number of judges as they exited the arena. But their opinion would prove irrelevant, they were not able to watch the video (IRCOS is no longer allowed for the D jury). The Ukrainians, who had done everything right that day, were kicked out of the medals. The hosts were relegated to the bronze. Japan took – but did not earn – the silver.

Mustafina’s return

A review of 2012 would not be complete without Aliya Mustafina. When she was carried off the mat after tearing her ACL at the 2011 European Championships, many feared for her future in the sport. The Olympics proved them wrong. Big time. In all fairness, Mustafina’s first big competition back after her injury did not look particularly promising. Still not quite in top shape at the European Championships in Brussels, she struggled in qualifications and failed to make the bars final. Three months later she became Olympic champion on the event. By the time the Russian Cup rolled round in June, it was clear that she was back on track. Mustafina left London as the most decorated gymnast and the most decorated Russian Olympian.

Mustafina’s team mate Viktoria Komova won the all-around according to the Reference Judges but had to settle for silver in the official ranking. Komova is a true virtuoso of the sport, the exceptional beauty of her gymnastics needs to be appreciated in person.

Gabrielle Douglas cruised to her all-around title and an entirely new life on 2 August. Book deals, appearances and endorsements have predictably kept her out of the gym. Most likely, Douglas will not come back to the very top level of the sport. Like most of the US Olympic stars before her. Fantastic opportunities for Douglas, sad for a the sport that is in desperate need of stars that stay around for more than one season.

The (super) human

Kohei Uchimura looked vulnerable (or maybe just human?) for the first time in his senior career in the Olympic qualifications but rallied in the all-around. Even a fall on his final event wouldn’t jeopardize his win. The gymnastics community has got so used to Uchimura being superhuman and flawless all the time that some felt a little dejected at what was has to be considered a sub par performance for him. Had any other gymnast put in a similar performance… Well, the world would be singing his praises. But not for the incredible Kohei. Still, Uchimura is everything gymnastics should be. Breathtaking, beautiful, exciting – and simply artistic.

MAG vs WAG

WAG is the big seller for the FIG. MAG receives much less media attention and has quite a pathetic fan base compared to MAG in most countries.That is totally undeserved. The level of men’s gymnastics is outrageous; the depth is an insane; the personalities often much more intriguing. Practically any of the eight teams in the Olympic final could have medalled. Genuine medal contenders can end up in tenth place. Women’s gymnastics remains largely a four team show with individual guest stars from other nations. Beth Tweddle was the only Olympic WAG medallist not to come from the USA, Russia, Romania or China.

To IRCOS or not to IRCOS?

The FIG no longer allows the use of video review IRCOS for the D jury. “They [the judges] were constantly watching routines in the past,” FIG president Bruno Grandi told German gymnastics magazine LEON* during the Olympics, “it took far too long for the scores to come up.” A long wait for a score is annoying and holds up the competition. Plus, the delay always brings on the conspiracy theorists. “Oooh, what are they looking at? They must be cheating!” However, leaving the D jury without any possibility of reviewing the routines also lead to problems in London. At least according to the Women’s Technical Committee report .

“Following the decision of the FIG EC, the ASs [apparatus supervisors] and D-Panels did not have any phone connections and were not allowed to use IRCOS in case of doubts or disagreement. This can greatly affect the outcome of the competition and perhaps needs to be reconsidered in order to provide the most knowledgeable judges with the most up to date evaluation methods (IRCOS). (…) It is very stressful for the WTC the D- Panels when they cannot respond quickly and efficiently (due to no phone connections or video replay) but must still be responsible for the correct evaluation.“

While the FIG’s desire to come up with scores quickly is understandable, the ultimate goal needs to be a correct evaluation of routines. It’s the Olympics after all. The human eye can take in only so much, and the judges’ seating positions aren’t always optimal. The situation is hard on the judges, who are easily under as much pressure as the athletes. Perhaps even more since they face pressure from both the FIG and their own federations.

Never count out Romania

At least for WAG. Romania reigned supreme in Brussels, easily beating the Russians who massively improved between their disastrous qualification round and the finals. Veterans Sandra Izbasa and Catalina Ponor showed why Romania should never ever be counted out. Even if writing this team off has become something of a favourite pastime among media and fans. The team did not quite manage to keep the momentum going all the way to the Olympics where Larisa Iordache’s injury may have cost them dearly.

Why 3-3 needs to go

If there was ever a competition that drove home the message of how terrible the 3-3 format is, it was the team final at the Men’s Europeans in Montpellier. The French team started on vault and their competition was over within twenty minutes. Samir Ait Said scored a zero for a scary Dragulescu, landed on his forehead and hands. To make matters worse, Ait Said suffered a serious injury. France was only able to field two routines on floor and rings. The argument in favour of the 3-3 format has always been that it is exciting and good for the audience. Of course, there is a certain excitement in watching a team being eliminated right from the start or a gymnast getting badly injured – sort of like the excitement of watching the Titanic sink. The French crowd somehow failed to appreciate the excitement. Not an advertisement for the sport at all.

Boy had two fantastic years in 2010 and 2011, winning team gold at the 2010 Europeans, silver AA and team bronze at the world championships the same year. In 2011, he took the AA gold at the European championships in Berlin and reclaimed his status as second best in the world behind superhuman Kohei Uchimura. But 2012 was not kind at all to Boy, whose friendliness and polite charm made him a fan favourite off the mats. “I spent more time visiting physiotherapists and doctors [than training],” he said. Boy battled a long stream of injuries throughout the year. Collar bone, wrist, back… just a few of the areas Boy had problems with this year. Nonetheless, he felt confident going into the Olympics. “I was in good shape and risked something,” he said, referring to the Dragulescu vault he decided to risk in team prelims. Boy fell and got injured on the vault, his first event at the Olympics. “[Head coach] Hirsch advised against throwing it in this competition, but I’m stubborn and went for it.” Instead of making a number of finals as hoped, Boy hobbled through the rest of the competition and missed out on all individual finals.

The first public step towards retirement was Boy’s announcement that he was leaving the sports group of the German army. The army admits successful athletes to its ranks, paying them a salary and allowing them to concentrate almost exclusively on training. 19 of Germany’s 44 medals in London were won by athletes representing the armed forces. The advantages of the arrangement are obvious – athletes are essentially fully paid professionals with no distractions and very few obligations toward their employer. However, they often leave the army and top level sports in their late twenties with nothing but a school leaving certificate and have a hard time finding their feet once they are no longer of interest to their respective federations as medal winners.

Boy initially started an apprenticeship in a bank and had hoped to combine his vocational training with his gymnastics career. He eventually gave up that plan, and his results improved dramatically once he joined the army. His career prospects are the other main reason he has decided to call it quits. “I’m just tired of hoping for a large sponsor to appear after a big success. I know, money isn’t everything but you can’t just live on love alone. What we get is not enough to save money for later. I think [the system] in Russia is excellent where you get a life annuity if you win a medal.”

It was obvious that the decision was not an easy one for Boy, and he took his time before making the final decision. “I was already totally sure I was going to retire in London. Then, I went back on that decision. Andreas Hirsch asked me to not make any rash decisions and take my time.” Continuing in gymnastics for fun was never an option, Boy stated. “If I were to continue then it would be to win a medal [at the Olympics]. I don’t think I’d be able to win an apparatus medal at 29.”

Perhaps the 2011 DTB Cup was a first step towards Boy’s retirement. He suffered a scary fall on high bar there. “It was the worst fall of my career. Until then, I had never even given a thought to the fact that I could get injured. It lead to a lot of mental problems on the event I wanted to win a medal on.” The fall and the ensuing mental block, Boy emphasized in Stuttgart, were only “a small reason” for his retirement. “If I had wanted to continue, I could have worked it out.”

Boy’s retirement will leave quite a sizeable gap in the German team. While the team has enjoyed considerable success over the last two Olympic cycles, the upcoming juniors have a long way to go before reaching the standard set by the Hambüchens, Boys and Nguyens. “I’m sorry,” head coach Hirsch said, “I will miss him. From my point of view, his retirement is a little early.”

The dust has settled after the FIG elections at the Congress in Cancun. Bruno Grandi was elected for a fifth term. A good election for him. Not a bad one for Japan and Russia – they wound up with six representatives each, more than any other federation. A great election for the Asian Gymnastics Union – four out of the seven members elected to the Executive Committee represent this continental union. While the FIG president and two of the three vice presidents are from Europe, the continent with the largest number of gymnasts at the Olympics clearly lost out overall in Cancun.

It was not such a good election for Wolfgang Willam. The German has served on the FIG Executive Committee for the last two cycles and ran for a spot as vice president this time. He did not make it. The 56-year-old was, however, re-elected to the Executive Committee. Ironically, it was a very successful election for Willam’s own federation (DTB). All four candidates were elected, and Holger Albrecht (MTC) and Frank Böhm (Sports Acro TC) are new members of those bodies. Both Albrecht and Böhm ran for their respective positions four years ago at the Congress in Helsinki but failed to make the cut then.

Willam, whose day job is that of DTB Sports Director, discusses the elections and their impact in this unusually candid interview with German freelance journalist Sandra Schmidt.

How did the Congress go?

If I may start with myself. I ran for a position as vice president and also as a member of the EC. Unfortunately, my wish to become vice president did not materialise. The idea was a different one, of course. The result was that I couldn’t make it and I was then elected to one of the remaining seven spots in the EC as the only European. That was also pretty close. So, overall there was quite a shift.

Were you surprised that Bruno Grandi was re-elected by such a large majority?

I wasn’t surprised he was re-elected. But it was surprising that it was such a large majority since it was the first time he had two opponents. In this respect it was an impressive result for him personally.

The Russian delegation hosted a large function on the evening before the Congress officially opened…

Yes, they hosted a function. But there is nothing unusual about that. When you’re bidding for something, a world championship or have a candidate [for a position] the candidate then issues an invitation. This function was on a grand scale but not unusual.

Considering the disappointing numbers for Vasily Titov [24 votes to Grandi's 68] – did this function maybe prove counterproductive?

Counterproductive – I personally wouldn’t see it that way for him. I’d say it was about a fifty percent chance of [Titov] becoming president after one cycle [on the EC]. Considering that, he may have achieved the currently possible maximum [result] by becoming vice president.

The Arab world now has two new representatives in the EC in Saif Abouedel (KUW) and Ali Al-Hitmi (QAT). The EC decides where the sport is going, and here we have two representatives of countries that barely take part in the sport. Is that difficult or not difficult at all?

Based on what I said prior to the elections [translator's note – he is referring to a radio interview he gave shortly before the elections] that we, of course, need to include these countries. I still stand by what I said. I am, however, a little bit sceptical that they made it to the top right away. Not because representatives from these countries made it but because they basically pushed out other positions. I’m talking about my colleagues from Switzerland or Great Britain. Great Britain, for example, gave the world great Olympic Games and has surely made its mark in gymnastics. If that is the thanks you get… That you are kicked out of the EC, well,.. then surely there are question marks regarding those countries.

But that is obviously the political balance of power that was quite openly demonstrated at this Congress. Looking at the representative from Qatar or from Kuwait plus the one from China and Japan… Then, they managed to go four for four in the EC elections. From their point of view that is total political success.

South America and Europe had their own candidates. One would assume that not all countries within the Asian Gymnastics Union are buddies. The President is Alshathri (QAT), the traditional power houses are China and Japan. How does the Asian Gymnastics Union manage to be so unified, an area where the other continental unions are clearly lacking?

Yes, that is what they managed to do. Though, as you said, they also have their differences, between the Arab and the Asian countries. There are definitely conflicts there. But, in the end, when it’s about the elections they understand their power. After all, they have over 40 votes and you see looking at those guys’ votes … they all received more than 40, the Japanese even got more than 60 votes at times. So, they obviously received votes from other continental unions. And that is exactly what the Europeans failed to do, and repeatedly fail to do. If you look at the fact that Europe alone felt it necessary to nominate eight candidates for the seven remaining EC positions, and that they can’t unite the massive forty European votes… It’s pretty obvious to everybody, and the Europeans are the real losers of these elections.

Looking towards the future and considering the fact that Europe is among those setting the agenda in nearly all of the FIG disciplines – could we be looking at increased co-ordination in Europe, perhaps through some sort of preliminary election? Surely, Europe does not want to completely disappear from the FIG decision making bodies. Wouldn’t it be better to come to an agreement [about the candidates] before the elections?

Absolutely. Whether it needs to be a preliminary election, remains to be seen. There definitely needs to be a more unified approach, After the – shambles in quotes of Cancun – there were some first deliberations in Europe as well. Without doubt, we need to be more united. That probably will need to be achieved at the preparatory congresses or perhaps attempted at a colloquium focussing on this topic. If not… The others demonstrated how to go about this professionally. The Europeans were amateurs in this respect.

Going back to the Arab countries – has any thought been given to a ‘no representation without participation’ rule?

That is definitely worth thinking about. The question is, of course, who is going to go about it, politically… Because whoever starts it also wants to be elected sometime and needs those votes. So, well, this wish is treading on really thin ice from a sports politics point of view. So… well.. at least I wouldn’t want to be the one to spearhead this movement. I’m more into conversation and including people. I’m very curious what working with these representatives will be like, and what ideas regarding the development of world gymnastics they will propose over the next four years.

Peter Vidmar had to step down as Chef de Mission of the US Olympic team this past spring when it became known that he had supported a campaign against same-sex marriage, taking part in demonstrations and donating money to the cause. Was this discussed in Cancun?

This wasn’t discussed at all in Cancun, and since he received a pretty big chunk of votes he went into the elections unscathed. The Americans threw a pretty generous banquet after the elections which was also supported by their National Olympic Committee. I would assume they are paving the way for maybe shooting for a big goal in four years.

The competition uses light effects and music, but manages to entertain without props or cheesy show routines. It’s just gymnastics – and a lot of it is really good. Fabian Hambüchen and Elisabeth Seitz took home the Swiss Cup and 30.000 US dollars in prize money. Hambüchen watered down his high bar routine in prelims but wowed the crowd with a Kolman in the final to clinch the title. Seitz left out her Def on bars but was very solid and confident. Swiss duo Claudio Capelli and Giulia Steingruber , the defending champions, had to settle for silver this time. Steingruber arguably pulled out one of her best handspring rudi vaults ever in the second round but had to step off the mat in the final. The second German couple Kim Bui/Marcel Nguyen had looked like sure winners in the earlier rounds but had to settle for third when Nguyen fell on his full-twisting double back dismount on parallel bars.

Elsewhere, Belarus surprised with a fourth place and some very solid gymnastics. Andrey Likhovitskiy, formerly of Russia, impressed with strong showings on all of his events. Ukrainian Oleg Stepko (18) and Russian Igor Pakhomenko (20) demonstrated why both teams are expected to excite the gymnastics world in the next quad. Pakhomenko matched Hambüchen’s 6.9 D score on high bar.

The format allows for basically any team to win. The ten teams compete two events in the first two rounds, after which the teams in ninth and tenth place are eliminated. The other eight teams advance to the semi-final where all gymnasts perform another routine, the scores from the preliminary round carry over. The four top teams advance to the final where they perform once more – but everything starts at zero. The competition is judged by real – and very experienced – judges but keeping with the relaxed theme, there are only four WAG and four MAG judges.

13 of the twenty gymnasts in Zürich were also on the floor in London, with Olympic vault champion Hak Seon Yang headlining the field. The quality of the field is important to the organisers, Swiss Cup president Jürg Stahl says: “If we pay to have them flown in then we think we have the right to expect their best athletes.” The organisers approach both federations and athletes directly. “It used to be really strict that the federations were officially invited, and then they would select the athletes. But we have been a little more active. I was in London as a representative of Swiss Olympic and tried using these contacts there.” Stahl said that Brazil had been high on the list of desired competitors. “They promised to send their two best athletes. But then they cancelled three weeks ago. You need patience to not ask too many athletes, but also need to be able to replace ones [who cancel] from the pipeline at short notice.”

100.000 dollars is serious money in gymnastics and Stahl admits he is “very proud of our prize money. I see how hard these athletes work every day and how little they earn in comparison to football players.” The 100.000 dollars sees 30.000 awarded for first place, 15.000 for second, 10.000 for third and 7000 for fourth. The rest of the money is handed out in appearance fees. 50 percent of the budget comes from sponsorship money, 20 percent from contributions in kind and 30 percent is secured by ticket sales.

The gymnasts don’t scoff at the money but also enjoy the atmosphere. An audience of 6000 cheered them on this time and all competitors take a lap of honour together after the competition before signing autographs for fans in the foyer. “It’s a great arena, great audience. It was just fun,” Marcel Nguyen said. “Of course it’s cool to get some [money] but it doesn’t influence how I compete. I would probably have competed the same without the prize money.”

 Swiss Cup Results

Videos

The only surprising thing about this result is perhaps that only one round of voting was necessary. Grandi received 68 of the 106 votes cast, more than twice as many as closest rival Vasily Titov (Russia). Titov garnered one of the three prestigious vice presidential spots and is thus elevated to a very small circle of power within the FIG. Probably not the worst spot to be in should he decide to run again in 2016, and realistically the best result Russia could have hoped for. Slava Corn (Canada) and Michel Leglise (France) were both re-elected as vice presidents as predicted. The presidents of the Technical Committees are also members of the Executive Committee. Germany (Wolfgang Willam and TRA TC president Horst Kunze), Russia (Vasily Titov and RG TC president Natalia Kuzmina) and the USA (Peter Vidmar and MTC president Steve Butcher) each have two members on the most important committee in gymnastics. That’s an improvement for Russia from the last cycle. Germany and the USA maintained their status quo.

Romania, on the other hand, has zero. The biggest news of the elections was the demise of Adrian Stoica. The veteran of international sports politics went for broke. He ran for the FIG presidency but not as vice president or for a spot on the Executive Committee. He was challenged by Steve Butcher (USA) for the MTC presidency and yet decided not to run for a simple membership. Stoica risked a lot and lost everything. He lost both elections and is now completely out of the FIG. This leaves Romania with no representation at the top-level of the sport at all.

Much can -and will- be speculated about the motives federations have to support one candidate or another. Do people actually read the candidates’ programmes and make informed decisions based solely on their content? Probably not. Is it largely political? Probably yes. Is it tactical? Absolutely.

Why vote for Grandi?

Well, you could have read his programme and agree with it. Or think the other two candidates were even worse. Or you could be a federation that will probably never have an athlete in the Olympics and thus couldn’t care less whether they are allowed to warm up on the podium, break their necks because they aren’t, how many people make up a team, how artistic the sport is or what direction it is going in. Your programme is just busy scrambling for survival from year to year. Perhaps you don’t actually take part in any competitions but think it’s cool the FIG pays for each federation to go to the Congress. You’re not quite sure what the debates are about but are enjoying the cocktails by the pool. Or you could be a federation that has a highly ambitious candidate waiting in the wings for 2016, when Grandi is expected to retire. Of course you need him to crank out another term. Titov and Stoica are much too young and could wreck your plans by getting re-elected in four years. You could be a federation that has struck a deal that if you support Grandi on any number of issues, you will in turn be supported on something important to you. Or just get a position you’ve always wanted.

No representation without participation?

With the exceptionally small amount of information the FIG provided from Cancun – though dolphin lovers will appreciate the photo gallery – speculation will be more rampant than ever. Fact is that the Executive Committee sees new members from Qatar and Kuwait while federations such as Great Britain or Switzerland – each with a long tradition and active participation in all FIG sports and competence in organising many international competitions – were kicked out. Qatar and Kuwait did not participate at all in the last world championships in four of the five FIG sports. They each sent three gymnasts to the 2011 Tokyo Worlds, only one of these six athletes was female. Sri Lanka and the Lebanon, who have newly elected representatives in the Council, between them did not send a single athlete to any of the last world championships. In any sport. This naturally evokes questions. What level of expertise do these representatives bring to the table? How, exactly, do they plan to contribute to the development of sports in which they hardly participate? Should federations who do not actually participate in competition be allowed to make decisions that concern the code, the competition format and other aspects obviously irrelevant to them? There are no minimum entry requirements for world championships and, at least for the likes of Qatar and Kuwait, participation it is surely not a financial issue.

Towards 2016

Names that repeatedly pop up in conversation when discussing the FIG after Grandi are Wolfgang Willam (Sports Director the German federation) and Olympic champion Peter Vidmar (Chairman of the Board of USA Gymnastics). USAG and the FIG conveniently announced a cooperation agreement that also includes the USOC and apparatus manufacturer AAI just one day before Vidmar was elected to the Executive Committee. Though that, of course, could be entirely coincidental. Fact is, it is virtually impossible to win over the majority of the federations without offering assistance to them. “Our goal is to share this expertise with countries that are working to develop the sport of gymnastics, athletes and coaches, and can use a little boost in getting to the next level,“ the press release quotes Vidmar.

Judging by his election result (56 of 102 votes cast, the second highest result), the FIG family obviously doesn’t mind (or is not aware of) Vidmar’s utterly embarrassing media Fukushima earlier this year when he had to step down as chef de mission for the 2012 Olympics. Vidmar, who is a Mormon, had donated money and campaigned for Propostion 8 which eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry in California. He explained his stance with his religious beliefs. It is interesting that USOC did not see Vidmar fit for a prominent role but USAG and FIG obviously do. 

Wolfgang Willam, the man behind the disaster that is the FIG World Cup circuit, suffered quite a blow in Cancun. Instead of coming home as a newly elected vice president he limped out of that election with the lowest number of votes after the first round. He then only just made it back on to the Executive Committee as the second last candidate to be elected. Whether or not this has any influence on future events remains to be seen. Maybe the FIG will have a president from Kuwait. Who knows? The fight for Grandi’s succession has probably only just begun. One thing is sure – the gymnastics community is in for four more years of Bruno Grandi’s legendary letters. 

The big news is that Bruno Grandi is not running unopposed for the first time since his election in 1996. While the 78-year-old Italian is expected to stay at the helm of the FIG, anything can happen. Grandi has been heavily criticised for the changes to the code, the competition format,his management style, his sometimes bizarre letters to the gymnastics community, his position on the age limit and many other things. However, his commitment to make the sport more universal has also won him support from the smaller federations. Only a small number of federations win medals at international events or actively participate in the debates shaping the sport. Less than 60 of the 131 member federations were represented in London. Of the 54 medals at stake in the FIG sports at the Olympics, 30 were won by China (12), Russia (12) and USA (6). Russia was the only country to medal in all FIG sports.

While the FIG under Grandi’s influence has done a lot to support the smaller federations, a lot of this support comes at the cost of the traditionally strong nations. Limiting teams to only five gymnasts arguably weakens the competition and leaves potential event finalists or even medal contenders at home in favour of weaker nations. For some federations, simply showing up is now enough to snag an Olympic berth. Egypt sent two WAG representatives to London simply because it was one of only two African nations to even take part in the qualifying process.

Grandi’s opponents are the MTC president Adrian Stoica (Romania) and high profile banker Vasily Titov (Russia). For an overview of the programmes see this article. Stoica, who opposed the open ended scoring system prior to its introduction, also heads the Romanian Gymnastics Federation. As president of the MTC, he has been at the heart of two of the greatest scandals in recent Olympic history. Athens 2004, perhaps one of the most disastrous competitions in the history of men’s gymnastics, and London 2012. The men’s team final saw Ukraine loose a medal due to a controversial decision after the competition had already concluded.

Titov, not related to former FIG president Yuri Titov, brings no gymnastic background to the table but has served on the Executive Committee for the past cycle. He is the First Deputy President of the VTB bank which is the general sponsor of the Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation and also an FIG sponsor. Russia is one of the most successful member federations of the FIG, qualified more gymnasts to London 2012 than any other federation (21 out of a possible 22) and has been one of the top nations for decades. Their biggest PR problem is probably Rhythmic Gymnastics. The sport is taken seriously in very few countries outside the former Soviet Union and the perception that there is no breathing room for any country other than Russia could be off-putting to some.
Technical Committees

The FIG has seven Technical Committees – Gymnastics for All, Men’s, Women’s, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Trampoline, Aerobics and Acrobatic. Each Technical Committee consists of a president and six members. Three will see new presidents. Five of the seven candidates for president are running unopposed.

Tonya Case (USA) is not standing for re-election as head of the Acrobatic committee and will be succeeded by Belgian Rosy Taemans, who is running unopposed. The Men’s Technical Committee and the Rhythmic Gymnastics Technical Committee will actually see a real battle – Adrian Stoica is being challenged by Steven Butcher (USA). Interestingly enough, Stoica is not a candidate for a member position.

Natalia Kuzmina (Russia) and Danielle Delle Chiaie (Italy) are going head-to-head for the presidency of the Rhythmic Gymnastics.

The MTC is also seems to be the most attractive committee in the FIG with seven new candidates vying for a spot. The list includes two former greats in Hiroyuki Tomita (Japan) and Bohdan Makuts (Ukraine). Five of the seven are from Europe, weakening the chances of each individual European candidate of getting elected. A fact often lamented within European gymnastics but it would require each federation to step down and support another federation’s candidate.

The FIG Congress was officially opened with a meeting of the Presidential Commission on 23 October. The FIG president will be elected on 26 October.

External links

FIG Cancun Microsite

Full list of candidates