LAUSANNE (SUI), FIG Office, May 10, 2012: The Swiss gymnast of the famous “school Gander” Jean Tschabold died Tuesday, April 31, 2012, defeated by the disease. He was 86 years old.

Tschabold was a member of the Swiss ‘Dream Team’ in the 50’s, coached by the illustrious Arthur Gander, the “father” of modern Code of Points and FIG President from 1966 to 1976. This team signed the greatest victories for Switzerland of all time in artistic gymnastics, with a world championship title in Basel (SUI-1950), a silver medal at the Olympics in Helsinki (FIN – 1952 ) and bronze at the worlds of Rome (ITA – 1954). Retired from competition, Jean Tschabold worked many years as a consultant for Swiss Television.

He was a pillar of the SFG-Lausanne Bourgeoise Gymnastics Club, and a model for all gymnasts of his generation. His memory remains forever tied to the history of the Swiss gymnastics, alongside his teammate’s legend Jack Gunthard, Josef Stalder and other Walter Lehmann.

(c) STV-FSG

Article source: http://217.158.112.230/vsite/vcontent/content/news/0,10869,5187-191775-208998-44765-316500-news-item,00.html

Vitaly Scherbo had become a legend.

Born on January 13, 1972 in Minsk, Vitaly owes his career as a gymnast to his mother, who signed him up for gymnasium to “liberate and channel” her son’s inexhaustible energy.

Though born with natural talent and acute intelligence, Vitaly’s personality, which proved to be as strong as his physique, refused any manner of discipline while training. You can’t have it all!

Nonetheless, Scherbo progressed at lightening speed, and proved his mastery at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, coached by Leonid Arkaev, a legend himself, and alongside his friends Grigori Misutin, Igor Korobchinski, Valeri Belenki, Rustam Sharipov and Alexei Voropaev.

With 6 Gold medals, Vitaly Scherbo matched Michael Phelbs’ record (USA – swimming – Athens 2004). Only Mark Spitz (USA – swimming – Munich 1972) remained unparalleled with 7 Gold medals.

Today, Vitaly heads up his own training centre in the US, near Las Vegas. Take a look; he’d love to have you: http://www.vssg.net/

This article is part of a weekly series in the run-up to the London 2012 Olympic Games as the FIG remembers outstanding previous gymnasts.

Previous articles:
Olympic countdown – 100 days to go!
Moskalenko – first Olympic Trampoline Champion
“The Scandal in the KB Hallen”!

Article source: http://217.158.112.230/vsite/vcontent/content/news/0,10869,5187-191775-208998-44765-316490-news-item,00.html

LAUSANNE (SUI), FIG Office, April 30, 2012: Artistic gymnasts from sixteen different nations won medals at the Grand Prix Osijek 2012, a FIG Challenge Cup that took place past weekend in Croatia.

Canada’s women were most successful in Osijek with three Golds in all. The country’s top performer at the 2011 World Championships, Christine Lee, outscored the field on Uneven Bars (14.475), while sixteen year old Elsabeth Black won Saturday’s Vault Final (14.575) and edged out Switzerland’s Giulia Steingruber for the Floor title (13.725) on Sunday

Osijek marks the biggest competition in the budding career of Black, who is coached by two time Canadian Men’s Olympian David Kikuchi. “With every successful competition her confidence is growing, and she has been handling all of her new challenges beautifully,” said Kikuchi. “I think that with her good results, recently she has put herself into the Olympic picture.”

Steingruber added another Gold on Balance Beam (14.075) and Silver on Vault (14.188) to her record in Osijek.

In Men’s, Great Britain’s Daniel Purvis and Greece’s Eleftherios Kosmidis tied in first place for the Gold on Floor (15.550). Second in Qualifications, Diego Hypolito of Brazil crashed at his second tumbling pass and fell back to last place in the Final.

Saso Bertoncelj and Mitja Petkovsek won Gold for Slovenia on Pommel Horse (15.475) and Parallel Bars (15.625) respectively, whereby Petkovsek tied in first place with Mexico’s Daniel Corral.

Latin American gymnasts continued to shine in Osijek, with Arthur Nabarrete Zanetti taking the title on Rings (15.875) and Enrique Tomas Gonzalez Sepulveda prevailing on Vault.

Just seventh during preliminaries, former World Champion Vlasios Maras was back on top in the Horizontal Bar Final to win a second Gold for Greece (15.600).

Croatia’s Filip Ude and Marijo Moznik were leading in Qualifications on Pommel Horse and Horizontal Bar respectively, but fell back to place six and five in the Finals. The best result for the host country went to Tijana Tkalcec, who finished fourth in Women’s Vault. 

Results
Qualifications
Finals

About 2012 FIG Individual Apparatus Artistic Gymnastics World Cup and Challenge Cup Series

The 2012 FIG Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics series for Individual Apparatus includes one World Cup (category A) and six Challenge Cup (category B) competitions.

Zibo City (CHN) on April 7 – 8 will host the 2012 Individual Apparatus World Cups, while 2012 Challenge Cups will take place on March 22 – 25 in Cottbus (GER), March 28 – 30 in Doha (QAT), April 20 – 22 in Maribor (SLO), April 27 – 29 in Osijek (CRO), June 9 – 10 in Ghent and November 23 – 24 in Ostrava (CZE).

Separate World Ranking lists will be established for CIII, six for men and four for women, with the Individual Apparatus rankings including combined lists for World Cups and Challenge Cups.

Invitation to the Individual Apparatus World Cup is based on the CIII rankings from the 2011 World Championships, the 2011 World Cup Ranking List for Individual Apparatus and the 2011 Challenge Cup Ranking List, and is limited to twelve gymnasts with a maximum of two entries per country on each apparatus. Moreover, the organising member federation can grant wild cards to a maximum of one man and one woman on one apparatus. The competitions include Qualifications and Finals with the best four gymnasts per apparatus proceeding to the final round. An additional one wild card per Men’s and Women’s competition is allowed in the event that the host federation fails to qualify for the Finals.

The Challenge Cup series is an open category featuring qualifying and final rounds, with participation limited to two gymnasts per country and apparatus. The best eight gymnasts per apparatus advance to the Final. An extra one wild card per Men’s and Women’s competition is allowed in the event that the host federation fails to qualify for the Finals.

The winners of the 2012 Individual Apparatus World Cup and Challenge Cup Series are those gymnasts with the highest number of points for each apparatus and the best four results counting after the last event in Ostrava, where special award ceremonies will be held and the winners will receive a cup.

Article source: http://217.158.112.230/vsite/vcontent/content/news/0,10869,5187-191775-208998-44765-316426-news-item,00.html

This time, a total of 21 coaches from 10 FIG member federations attended. The participating countries were Bangladesh, Iraq, Jordan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar and Yemen.As reported in the past, the Age Group programme includes a testing and monitoring programme for MAG and WAG physical abilities and technical skills as well as a complete multi-level competition programme with modified 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 programme that can lead to high performance. The testing programme was developed by well-known coach and clinician Dieter Hofmann and the competition programme by Hardy Fink, the Director of Education and Academy Programmes and, for the choreographic and artistic elements, by many time World and Olympic-coach and consultant to the British Team, Carol Angela Orchard.

These three once again served as the FIG experts for this course having come directly from the same course in Senegal. Hardy Fink served as course leader. Each of them presented different components of the age group project and presented additional theory and practical lectures related to artistry, gymnastics systems, long term athlete development, issues related to intense training of young gymnasts, biomechanics, and strength and flexibility training to enhance the understanding and education of the participating coaches.

Qatar, now into its eleventh year as a gymnastics federation, hosted this event with its usual enthusiasm and expertise. The facility was magnificent and all additional technical training aids and audio-visual equipment were provided. Ten gymnasts – five boys and five girls – were continuously available and several of the national team members trained in the background and assisted as demonstrators whenever needed. Congratulations and thanks go again to Ali AL HITMI, the President of the Qatar Gymnastics Federation who visited the course daily and to Anis SAOUD, the Technical Director, who worked in advance and during this introductory camp to assure its success.

The participating federations will now study the components of this new project offered by the FIG with their federation leaders and decide if they wish to adopt and implement it within their countries and regions. If the decision is positive, then each federation will be offered an annual monitoring and updating camp in their own countries so that more coaches and gymnasts can be exposed to the information and their progress monitored by FIG experts.

The FIG Age Group Project for MAG and WAG has now been introduced at five locations (Malaysia, Guatemala, South Africa, Sénégal, and Qatar) with the official attendance of 118 coaches from 32 developing gymnastics federations listed here in alphabetical order:
 

In addition, because of the nationality of some of the coaches of the demonstrator gymnasts in the host countries, citizens of Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Egypt, France, Portugal, Syria, Tunisia and Ukraine also had the opportunity to be informed. The experts have come from Australia, Canada, Germany and Great Britain.

In the coming weeks, the FIG will seek commitments from the federations and hope for continued IOC support to provide for the next phase of full implementation by the federations and annual monitoring and support and education by FIG experts. The programme will remain over 95% as introduced, but some minor corrections and additions will be made over the summer based on the experiences gained from the five introductory training camps.
 

Article source: http://217.158.112.230/vsite/vcontent/content/news/0,10869,5187-191775-208998-44765-316401-news-item,00.html

The event was hosted by Senegal in the city of Thies at its Centre International de Gymnastique inaugurated by the FIG President Bruno Grandi (ITA) four years ago. Since that time, the centre has also hosted two FIG coaching Academies and a Foundations Course. This introductory Age Group Programme course was postponed from 2011 because of the political turmoil in North-Africa at that time.

A number of federations that would have benefitted from the programme could not be invited, because they had not continued to meet the requirements for full FIG memberships. The remaining federations were invited to attend with a MAG and a WAG coach fully funded by the FIG with the support of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and additional coaches were permitted to attend on a self-funded basis. Four of the invited federations chose to attend – Congo, Libya, Nigeria and Senegal – with a total of fourteen coaches.

The Age Group programme includes a testing and monitoring programme for MAG and WAG physical abilities and technical skills as well as a complete multi-level competition programme with modified 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 programme that can lead to high performance. The testing programme was developed by well-known coach and clinician Dieter Hofmann (GER) and the competition programme by Hardy Fink (CAN), the FIG Director of Education and Academy Programmes and, for the choreographic and artistic elements, by many time Olympic-coach and consultant to the British Team, Carol Angela Orchard.

These three also served as the FIG experts for this course with Hardy Fink as course leader.
Each of them presented different components of the age group project and presented additional theory and practical lectures related to artistry, gymnastics systems, long term athlete development, issues related to intense training of young gymnasts, biomechanics, and strength and flexibility training to enhance the understanding and education of the participating coaches. It was a very intense three days of teaching and learning for all. Because of the languages of the participants, all of the lecture and resource material was provided in French and English.

The Centre International de Gymnastique was equipped with a full set of competition apparatus by the FIG in 2008, but it was a difficult venue in which to host such a course, because it does not serve well as a training centre. There was no training and methodological equipment such as ballet barres, mirrors, climbing ropes, mushrooms, wall-bars, landing pits, mini-trampoline, etc. to meet the needs of the course, nor were the gymnasts in attendance of sufficient quality to demonstrate any but the most basic 1st level elements. However, the course was able to proceed and be concluded successfully with the use of the many video and other resources from the FIG Academy Programme. At the conclusion of the course, Hardy Fink exhorted the participating coaches to make use of the FIG Academy resources and education that they had already received, to assure the construction of training and methodological equipment which can be done at very low cost, and to keep themselves updated with the nearly infinite information now readily available on the Internet.

The participating federations will now study the components of this new project offered by the FIG with their federation leaders and decide if they wish to adopt and implement it within their countries and regions. If the decision is positive, then each federation will be offered an annual monitoring and updating camp in their own countries so that more coaches and gymnasts can be exposed to the information and their progress monitored by FIG experts. In the coming weeks, the FIG will incorporate the learning and observations from these introductory seminars to make small modifications to the program.

Many thanks for the continuing support of gymnastics development and the organisational work go to Senegal Technical Director, Léandre FORBIS and to Senegal Gymnastics Federation President and NOC Vice-President Albertine GONÇALVES who attended every moment of the course to help assure its success.

A fifth such introductory seminar and camp will be held in Doha, Qatar on April 17-19, 2012. Ten FIG member federations are registered to participate.

Article source: http://217.158.112.230/vsite/vcontent/content/news/0,10869,5187-191775-208998-44765-316337-news-item,00.html

LAUSANNE (SUI), FIG Office, April 5, 2012: The FIG Foundation invited its 130 affiliated federations to apply for gymnast grants on January 23, 2012. Fourteen responded within deadline with twenty-seven requests.

The opportunity was given to gymnasts in Olympic disciplines only; registered are 11 for Men’s Artistic, 9 for Women’s Artistic, 4 for Rhythmic and 3 for Trampoline. The highest number comes from Europe with 15, followed by Africa with 7, Asia 4 and the Americas with 1.

In the aim of bringing financial aid to gymnasts for education and preparation, each individual request will be evaluated by a Commission made up of the FIG President, Secretary General, Athletes Commission President and one Foundation representative.

A report will be submitted to the FIG Council, convening in St Petersburg (RUS) in May, after which a final proposal will be brought before the FIG Foundation Council, the sole authority with the power to adjudicate scholarship requests.

Article source: http://217.158.112.230/vsite/vcontent/content/news/0,10869,5187-191775-208998-44765-316279-news-item,00.html

LAUSANNE (SUI), FIG Office, April 4, 2012: The first and only Artistic Gymnastics Individual Apparatus category A Word Cup in 2012 will be held on April 7 – 8 in Zibo City (CHN).

Organisers of the Chinese Gymnastics Association will welcome some fifty gymnasts representing 23 nations to the Zibo Sports Center Gymnasium in the coastal province of Shandong in East China for the occasion.

The impressive international Men’s line-up includes world and Olympic medallists Alexander Shatilov (ISR), Kriszian Berki (HUN), Eleftherios Kosmidis (GRE), Louis Smith (GBR), Cyril Tommasone (FRA), Lambertus van Gelder (NED), Flavius Koczi (ROU), Mitja Petkovsek (SLO), Steven Legendre (USA), Alexander Naddour (USA) and Danell Leyva (USA).

Host China registered Huang Yuguo (FX), 2004 Olympic Champion Teng Haibin (PH), reigning World and Olympic Champion Chen Yibing, Liao Junlin (both on SR), Feng Zhe (PB) and World runner-up Zhang Chenglong (PB, HB).

Stars such as Lauren Mitchell (AUS), Jade Fernandes (BRA), Jessica Lopez (VEN) and Thi Ha Thanh Phan (VIE) spice up the international Women’s field, while China enters the competition with Beijing Bronze medallist and former World Champion on Vault Cheng Fei (VT, FX), Yao Jinnan (UB, BB) and Huang Qiushuang (UB, BB, FX), both of whom brought home Bronze medals from the 2011 Tokyo worlds. First year senior Huang Huidan is listed as an hors concours gymnast.

Click here for the nominative registration list!

About 2012 FIG Individual Apparatus Artistic Gymnastics World Cup and Challenge Cup Series

The 2012 FIG Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics series for Individual Apparatus includes one World Cup (category A) and six Challenge Cup (category B) competitions.

Zibo City (CHN) on April 7 – 8 will host the 2012 Individual Apparatus World Cups, while 2012 Challenge Cups will take place on March 22 – 25 in Cottbus (GER), March 28 – 30 in Doha (QAT), April 20 – 22 in Maribor (SLO), April 27 – 29 in Osijek (CRO), June 9 – 10 in Ghent and November 23 – 24 in Ostrava (CZE).

Separate World Ranking lists will be established for CIII, six for men and four for women, with the Individual Apparatus rankings including combined lists for World Cups and Challenge Cups.

Invitation to the Individual Apparatus World Cup is based on the CIII rankings from the 2011 World Championships, the 2011 World Cup Ranking List for Individual Apparatus and the 2011 Challenge Cup Ranking List, and is limited to twelve gymnasts with a maximum of two entries per country on each apparatus. Moreover, the organising member federation can grant wild cards to a maximum of one man and one woman on one apparatus. The competitions include Qualifications and Finals with the best four gymnasts per apparatus proceeding to the final round. An additional one wild card per Men’s and Women’s competition is allowed in the event that the host federation fails to qualify for the Finals.

The Challenge Cup series is an open category featuring qualifying and final rounds, with participation limited to two gymnasts per country and apparatus. The best eight gymnasts per apparatus advance to the Final. An extra one wild card per Men’s and Women’s competition is allowed in the event that the host federation fails to qualify for the Finals.

The winners of the 2012 Individual Apparatus World Cup and Challenge Cup Series are those gymnasts with the highest number of points for each apparatus and the best four results counting after the last event in Ostrava, where special award ceremonies will be held and the winners will receive a cup.

Article source: http://217.158.112.230/vsite/vcontent/content/news/0,10869,5187-191775-208998-44765-316276-news-item,00.html

Christian Kopp überzeugte

In einem starken P6-Teilnehmerfeld (internationalen Klasse) wurde Christian Kopp bester Ostschweizer Turner (5. Rang). Eine Medaille wäre eine Überraschung gewesen. Ungefährdet den Sieg errungen hat sich das Juniorenkadermitglied Eddy Yusof (ZH) vor dem Jungtalent Henji Mboyo (ZH) und den beiden Trainingskollegen von Pablo Brägger Oliver Hegi (AG) und Simon Nützi (SO).
Die Turner vom RLZ Ostschweiz zeigten insgesamt recht ausgeglichene Leistungen. Christian Kopp STV Schwarzenbach und Nicola Graber STV Kriessern die beiden Juniorenkaderturner fochten einen interessanten Zweikampf auf ebenbürtig hohem Niveau aus. Der zweitbeste Sprung im P6 Mehrkampf entschied zugunsten von Christian Kopp, der mit 0.200 Punkten obsiegte. Der sprunggewaltige Manuel Kast /TV St. Margrethen punktete mit einer fulminanten Bodenübung. Die zweitbeste des Tages. Er zeigte Schraubensalti in dreifacher Ausführung. Wieder Vorwärtsblicken darf Sandro Gamper /TG, der seit längerem unverletzt an Allen Geräten turnen konnte.

TZ Fürstenländer zeigten solide Leistungen

Die diesjährige Standortbestimmung war geprägt durch eine starke Zürcher Delegation. Die Turner vom Kunstturnverband Zürich waren eine wunderbare Herausforderung für die Kunstturnzentren der Ostschweizer. Zählen doch die Zürcher im Schweizerischen Ranking zur absoluten Spitze. Mit einer soliden Gesamtleistung etablierten sich vier von fünf P2 Turnern innerhalb der Top Ten. Der Jugendkaderturner Niels Fluder/STV Wil verpasste seinen ersten Podestplatz. Er wurde sehr guter Vierter. Lars Grämiger 7. Rang, Kristian Korman 8. Rang und Olin Meier 9. rang (alle STV Wil) konnten die in sie gesetzten Erwartungen erfüllen. Melvin Tobler Rang 15, STV Wil kämpft momentan mit starkem Längenwachstum. Die beiden Trainer Jörg Schwaiger und Csaba Zsakai zeigten sich zufrieden. Sie wissen nun wo noch Verbesserungspotential vorhanden ist. Mit Linus Rohner, TV Niederwil und Justin Tschopp STV Wil geben im P1 zwei Turner ganz schön «Gas». Technisch turnen beide auf gleichem Niveau. Letzterem mangelt es im Wettkampf noch an der Siegermentalität. Ebenfalls auf gutem Wege an die Spitze befindet sich Leandro Cristofari STV Wil (Rang 27). Er der erst seit einem Jahr im TZF trainiert zeigt gute Leistungsbereitschaft. Von den Newcomern im P1 hat Pascal Scherrer, STV Wil überrascht. Er war im Feld von 70 Turnern bester seines Jahrgangs (2004). Die hohen Anforderungen die heutzutage an die jungen Turner gestellt werden bringen es mit sich, dass diese 2 Jahre in derselben Programmstufe verbleiben, Erfahrungen sammeln um sich dann im Nachfolgejahr für Podest- oder Topten- Rangierungen empfehlen. So wie die beiden Leaderfiguren Linus Rohner und Justin Tschopp.
Christoph Scherrer STV Wil bescherte dem TZF mit einer ausgeglichenen Leistung eine zweite Medaille. Dies ist umso erfreulicher als auch er mit einem Wachstumsschub zu kämpfen hat. Nach einem massiven Trainingsdefizit infolge Grippe erturnte sich Sandro Brändle TZF den erfreulichen 4. Rang. Der dritte Turner Jonas Guler STV Kirchberg leistete nachbarschaftliche Hilfe. Er unterstützte ein deutsches Team in einem Ligen-Wettkampf. Dank seiner Unterstützung gewann das Team die Ausscheidung.
Die Neulinge vom TZF im Einführungsprogramm (EP) zählten wie erwartet nicht zum Favoritenkreis. Steigerungsmöglichkeiten bestehen bei mindestens drei von insgesamt acht Turnern in dieser Kategorie. Tim Hänsenberger, STV Wil (Rang 29) klassierte sich als bester TZF Turner dieser Kategorie und Julian Alpiger, STV Wil, durfte den Pokal als bester Newcomer in empfang nehmen.

Pablo Brägger von Doha (Katar) direkt an den Fürstenland Cup

Nach seinem Erfolg am FIG Challenge Cup 2012 in Doha (Katar) begab sich Pablo Brägger am Samstag direkt vom Flughafen an den Fürstenland Cup, wo er sich am Sonntag nochmals für eine Autogrammstunde einfand. Aus dem Pressecommunique des Schweizerischen Turnverbandes ist folgende Erfolgsmeldung zu entnehmen. «Der 19-jährige Pablo Brägger (STV Oberbüren SG) zeigte am zweiten Finaltag in Doha eine Klasseleistung. Im Barrenfinale konnte er sich gegenüber der Qualifikation um einen Rang steigern und wurde ausgezeichneter Fünfter.»

Article source: http://fuela-cup.tzft.ch/2012/04/02/gelungener-startschuss-in-die-saison-2012/

LAUSANNE (SUI), FIG Office, March 27, 2012: A strong and interesting field will take to the floor at the Aspire Academy Dome in Doha (QAT) when the FIG Artistic Gymnastics Challenge Cup gets underway on Wednesday.

A record breaking 41 female and 76 male gymnasts representing a total of 31 different countries from all continents are registered to compete at an event that takes place for the fifth consecutive year since its launch in 2008. After kick off last weekend in Cottbus (GER), Doha is the second stopover of the 2012 FIG Challenge Cup series and features Qualifications on Wednesday and Apparatus Finals on Thursday and Friday.

Detailed schedule

Doha hosts of the Qatar Gymnastics Federation are known for top notch organisation and hospitality, which have attracted an increasing number of delegations and gymnasts to the competition at the Aspire Academy Dome. “Gymnasts like to come here because we provide them with world class facilities. They appreciate the high quality of event and hospitality that they experience here,” said Qatar Gymnastics Federation President Ali al Hitmi.

The tournament lines up numerous gymnasts qualified for the 2012 London Olympic Games. Standing out in Men’s are 2008 Olympic Champion and title holder in Doha on Floor and Horizontal Bar, Zou Kai of China, and 2011 World Silver medallist on Pommel Horse, Cyril Tommasone of France, while 2004 Olympic Champion on Balance Beam and Floor Catalina Ponor (ROU) leads the women’s roster. Also lining up are Beijing Olympians Ashleigh Brennan (AUS), Ethiene Gonser (BRA), Jiang Yuyuan (CHN), Deng Linlin (CHN) and Jessica Lopez (VEN), as well as former World Champion on Floor and Uneven Bars Beth Tweddle (GBR).

“Events like the FIG Challenge Cup are helping Qatari gymnasts. Our gymnasts have learnt a lot from competing against the world’s best and their rise proves this clearly,” Hitmi said at a press conference last week. He also mentioned that Qatari Gymnastics has grown by leaps and bounds in a very short period of time. “The unexpected success of Qatar at the Arab Games in December 2011 in Doha is living proof that the federation is going in the right direction and providing the best possible atmosphere in which to groom its gymnasts. Nobody was expecting that Qatar would win any medals, but to everyone’s surprise, Shaden Wohdan won two Gold medals for our country.”

Nominative registrations

Get more information on the event website at http://www.dohagym.com and follow the action on the organisers’ social media accounts on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DohaGym and Twitter @DohaGym.
For the first time in the history of the event, fans have the opportunity to view live results on their mobile devices by following these instructions.

About 2012 FIG Individual Apparatus Artistic Gymnastics World Cup and Challenge Cup Series

The 2012 FIG Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics series for Individual Apparatus includes one World Cup (category A) and six Challenge Cup (category B) competitions.

Zibo City (CHN) on April 7 – 8 will host the 2012 Individual Apparatus World Cups, while 2012 Challenge Cups will take place on March 22 – 25 in Cottbus (GER), March 28 – 30 in Doha (QAT), April 20 – 22 in Maribor (SLO), April 27 – 29 in Osijek (CRO), June 9 – 10 in Ghent and November 23 – 24 in Ostrava (CZE).

Separate World Ranking lists will be established for CIII, six for men and four for women, with the Individual Apparatus rankings including combined lists for World Cups and Challenge Cups.

Invitation to the Individual Apparatus World Cup is based on the CIII rankings from the 2011 World Championships, the 2011 World Cup Ranking List for Individual Apparatus and the 2011 Challenge Cup Ranking List, and is limited to twelve gymnasts with a maximum of two entries per country on each apparatus. Moreover, the organising member federation can grant wild cards to a maximum of one man and one woman on one apparatus. The competitions include Qualifications and Finals with the best four gymnasts per apparatus proceeding to the final round. An additional one wild card per Men’s and Women’s competition is allowed in the event that the host federation fails to qualify for the Finals.

The Challenge Cup series is an open category featuring qualifying and final rounds, with participation limited to two gymnasts per country and apparatus. The best eight gymnasts per apparatus advance to the Final. An extra one wild card per Men’s and Women’s competition is allowed in the event that the host federation fails to qualify for the Finals.

The winners of the 2012 Individual Apparatus World Cup and Challenge Cup Series are those gymnasts with the highest number of points for each apparatus and the best four results counting after the last event in Ostrava, where special award ceremonies will be held and the winners will receive a cup.

Article source: http://217.158.112.230/vsite/vcontent/content/news/0,10869,5187-191775-208998-44765-316228-news-item,00.html

LAUSANNE (SUI), FIG Office, March 27, 2012: A strong and interesting field will take to the floor at the Aspire Academy Dome in Doha (QAT) when the FIG Artistic Gymnastics Challenge Cup gets underway on Wednesday.

A record breaking 41 female and 76 male gymnasts representing a total of 31 different countries from all continents are registered to compete at an event that takes place for the fifth consecutive year since its launch in 2008. After kick off last weekend in Cottbus (GER), Doha is the second stopover of the 2012 FIG Challenge Cup series and features Qualifications on Wednesday and Apparatus Finals on Thursday and Friday.

Detailed schedule

Doha hosts of the Qatar Gymnastics Federation are known for top notch organisation and hospitality, which have attracted an increasing number of delegations and gymnasts to the competition at the Aspire Academy Dome. “Gymnasts like to come here because we provide them with world class facilities. They appreciate the high quality of event and hospitality that they experience here,” said Qatar Gymnastics Federation President Ali al Hitmi.

The tournament lines up numerous gymnasts qualified for the 2012 London Olympic Games. Standing out in Men’s are 2008 Olympic Champion and title holder in Doha on Floor and Horizontal Bar, Zou Kai of China, and 2011 World Silver medallist on Pommel Horse, Cyril Tommasone of France, while 2004 Olympic Champion on Balance Beam and Floor Catalina Ponor (ROU) leads the women’s roster. Also lining up are Beijing Olympians Ashleigh Brennan (AUS), Ethiene Gonser (BRA), Jiang Yuyuan (CHN), Deng Linlin (CHN) and Jessica Lopez (VEN), as well as former World Champion on Floor and Uneven Bars Beth Tweddle (GBR).

“Events like the FIG Challenge Cup are helping Qatari gymnasts. Our gymnasts have learnt a lot from competing against the world’s best and their rise proves this clearly,” Hitmi said at a press conference last week. He also mentioned that Qatari Gymnastics has grown by leaps and bounds in a very short period of time. “The unexpected success of Qatar at the Arab Games in December 2011 in Doha is living proof that the federation is going in the right direction and providing the best possible atmosphere in which to groom its gymnasts. Nobody was expecting that Qatar would win any medals, but to everyone’s surprise, Shaden Wohdan won two Gold medals for our country.”

Nominative registrations

Get more information on the event website at http://www.dohagym.com and follow the action on the organisers’ social media accounts on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DohaGym and Twitter @DohaGym.
For the first time in the history of the event, fans have the opportunity to view live results on their mobile devices by following these instructions.

About 2012 FIG Individual Apparatus Artistic Gymnastics World Cup and Challenge Cup Series

The 2012 FIG Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics series for Individual Apparatus includes one World Cup (category A) and six Challenge Cup (category B) competitions.

Zibo City (CHN) on April 7 – 8 will host the 2012 Individual Apparatus World Cups, while 2012 Challenge Cups will take place on March 22 – 25 in Cottbus (GER), March 28 – 30 in Doha (QAT), April 20 – 22 in Maribor (SLO), April 27 – 29 in Osijek (CRO), June 9 – 10 in Ghent and November 23 – 24 in Ostrava (CZE).

Separate World Ranking lists will be established for CIII, six for men and four for women, with the Individual Apparatus rankings including combined lists for World Cups and Challenge Cups.

Invitation to the Individual Apparatus World Cup is based on the CIII rankings from the 2011 World Championships, the 2011 World Cup Ranking List for Individual Apparatus and the 2011 Challenge Cup Ranking List, and is limited to twelve gymnasts with a maximum of two entries per country on each apparatus. Moreover, the organising member federation can grant wild cards to a maximum of one man and one woman on one apparatus. The competitions include Qualifications and Finals with the best four gymnasts per apparatus proceeding to the final round. An additional one wild card per Men’s and Women’s competition is allowed in the event that the host federation fails to qualify for the Finals.

The Challenge Cup series is an open category featuring qualifying and final rounds, with participation limited to two gymnasts per country and apparatus. The best eight gymnasts per apparatus advance to the Final. An extra one wild card per Men’s and Women’s competition is allowed in the event that the host federation fails to qualify for the Finals.

The winners of the 2012 Individual Apparatus World Cup and Challenge Cup Series are those gymnasts with the highest number of points for each apparatus and the best four results counting after the last event in Ostrava, where special award ceremonies will be held and the winners will receive a cup.

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