FÉDÉRATION INTERNATIONALE DE GYMNASTIQUE
Letter from the President
Nr 55
By Prof. Bruno Grandi, FIG President November 2011
Unprecedented!
Tokyo. The 43
rd
Artistic Gymnastics World Championships.
Before time erases from memory what was likely, with Rotterdam last year, one of the most
resplendent world championships in FIG history, I would like to recall urbi and orbi that this event
was unprecedented for more than one reason.
For starters, its emotional context.
I am grateful to have fellow authorities who were willing to follow me at a time when others would
sow doubt and dissonance in the hearts of a wounded and writhing people, afflicted with the tragic
events that wracked Japan. The FIG kept its word.
Next, from the sports angle.
Never before, and I speak from no small amount of experience, have the scores given by judges
so accurately reflected athlete performances. With few exceptions, easily identifiable cases that
were swiftly corrected, judging today is of a rare calibre. This result is the fruit of our judges' labour,
and for that they have my utmost respect. Because of their commitment the product gymnastics
has to offer has been enhanced and perfected.
After the close of the Championships in Tokyo, I had an opportunity to visit the impressive Nippon
Sport Science Institute, located on the campus of the prestigious Nittaidai University, where,
incidentally, our Vice-President Sensei Koji Takizawa is a professor.
The institute trains Japanese champions in every discipline. For gymnastics, two exceptional
medallists of our day emerged from the institute: Rie Tanaka, recipient of the Longines Prize for
Elegance 2010 and the prodigious national hero Kohei Uchimura.
I had the honour of addressing these gymnasts as well as some two-hundred students of
gymnastics. I expressed my pride over having officiated at such a high-calibre world championship
event and encouraged them to remember that "in Tokyo, you the gymnasts, not the judges, are the
winners!"
With my compliments.
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FÉDÉRATION INTERNATIONALE DE GYMNASTIQUE