The president of European Gymnastics (EG), Farid Gayibov, shared his impressions about the Olympics.
Idman.biz reports that the Minister wrote about the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games and other events in the traditional "President's Note" column on the website of the organization he heads.
"The month of real emotions is the best expression to describe this hot July month.
Paris was alluminated by the Olympic torch as it finally raised its curtain to stage sophisticated performances of the globe’s sport stars…
… Yes, finally, as the athletes’ and coaches’ anticipation in terms of experiencing qualification events and finding themselves in the heart of Paris, was too long even with the shortest ever three-year Olympic cycle we had.
The Gymnastics competitions, within the framework of the Paris 2024 Games, started with its extremely popular discipline - Artistic Gymnastics on 27 July. The beauty of any sport event lies in witnessing the crowded venue which means the sport is popular and people gathered to support the stars of their favorite discipline. The agiotage around finding tickets to watch the performances of 13 Olympic Champions, including Simone Biles (USA), Nina Derwael (BEL), Eleftherios Petrounias (GRE) and Max Whitlock (GBR), amid the fact that all tickets were sold out, means a lot. Celebrities could be seen in the crowd. This is very good for our sport discipline. I do hope that the attendance of celebrities will be continued at our World and European Championships, which will further foster the popularity of Gymnastics. It will also help us to increase the number of sponsors. I am confident that TV rates of this Olympic Games Gymnastics events will also facilitate the conclusion of TV contracts favorable for all stakeholders concerned.
I would like to express my gratitude to the gymnasts for the fabulous Gymnastics show they demonstrated. The thrill of qualifications was equal to that of the finals. The team events were extremely interesting in Women’s Artistic Gymnastics events. The Italian women’s team, pursuing the USA, won the Silver medal, after 96 years. Men’s All-around competitions distinguished itself as well. Oka Shinnosuke (JPN) became the Olympic Men’s All-Around Champions at his first ever Olympic appearance. History was written for Ireland as triple European Champion Rhys McClenaghan delivered an excellent pommel horse routine to clinch the Olympic title. Alice D’Amato continued Italy’s success by becoming her country’s first Olympic Champion on beam.
The Trampoline Gymnastics competitions, held on 2 August, were very exciting. Everything was well presented and understandable. I was also pleased to see the crowded hall at the events in Trampoline Gymnastics as well. One of the favorites of the Trampoline Gymnastics women’s competitions, Bryony Page (GBR) completed her set of previous Olympic medals by winning gold in Paris. Ivan Litvinovich (AIN) succeeded to retain Olympic title. The competitions of both Qualifications and Finals passed like in one breath.
Besides incredible events and atmosphere across the Games, the multi-sport competitions offer a great opportunity to witness performances of other sport disciplines, to meet with the colleagues, to communicate and exchange opinions, to compare with our sport discipline, to see what is new in other sport disciplines and to deliberate on impact of these innovations in our Gymnastics in case they are applied. I was very happy to see all my colleagues, Presidents of National Olympic Committees and National Gymnastics Federations.
And the Executive Committee members of the International Gymnastics Federation did not miss an opportunity to sit in Paris and discuss issues found its reflection in the Agenda of its regular meeting from 30 July to 1 August. The World Cup and World Challenge Cup series for the next Cycle were allocated and proposed changes to the Rhythmic Gymnastics specific judges’ rules and Appendix to the Code of Points approved.
Also in July … the European Gym for Life Challenge on 13 July and EUROGYM from 14 to 18 July. Both were held in the Norwegian city of Bodo. I would like to share my impression of the event held in the small and nice city in the northern part of the country, which embraced 1250 gymnasts from 11 countries.
The work of the Norwegian Gymnastics Federation and its organisational skills deserve high appreciation. Thanks to the Organisers and all participants, the city was turned into a live gymnastics festival with brilliant and diverse performances, including workshops all over the city. This a great tradition which should be continued and I am confident that a number of participants at these Gymnastics for All events will increase with each event.
The Olympic thrill is still going on. The Rhythmic Gymnastics community cannot wait to be a part of the Paris Games. I wish everybody to fully enjoy the remaining days of the exciting Olympics…"
Idman.biz
