Birmingham City Council: FIG Trampoline and Tumbling World Championships promises great benefits
This year’s FIG Trampoline, Tumbling and Double Mini Trampoline World Championships are being hosted in Birmingham, England, from November 17-20, this year. The crème de la crème of gymnasts and officials from 40 countries will be taking part in the high-profile
event.
For the purpose of hosting, the Birmingham City Council has collaborated with British Gymnastics and UK Sport.
The venue has been decided and the competition will be held at the National Indoor Arena (NIA). The World Championships, now the Olympic qualifiers for London as well, have risen in importance to a colossal magnitude.
Only the individuals that finish in the top eight will qualify for London. The 16 males and 16 females closest to the top eight will get another shot at London in the test event for the 2012 London Olympics.
This will be the first event since the International Gymnastics Federation passed the ‘no needle’ rule. The rule bans gymnasts from taking any injections while engaged in a tournament, in an effort to protect gymnasts’ health from drug abuse.
Specifically, the use of syringes 24 hours before or after a game is strictly forbidden unless it is medically recommended. The rule is only a few days old.
The last time this event was staged in London was back in 1967. This year finds the Birmingham City Council eager and excited as they make preparations for the event.
The World Championships comprises of eight events, divided equally into male and female. Moreover, the young prodigies and the best upcoming talent from all over the world will be competing at NIA for the World Age Group Championships (junior competition),
with over 1200 competing athletes.
“Having successfully staged the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in 2010 and the Trampoline and Tumbling World Cup in 2006, we have the pedigree for gymnastics as well as a reputation as a world class city of sport,” Steve Hollingworth, Assistant
Director- Sports and Events, Birmingham City Council said.
He also spoke about Birmingham’s passion for sports, revealing the upcoming sports events that Birmingham will be hosting, these include the Birmingham Half Marathon, Diamond League Athletics, the BMX World Championships and training camps for the USA and
Jamaican track and field teams.
GBR Senior Team gymnasts Zara McLean, Alex Foster and Amanda Parker came forward to help pull together the launch of the ticket sales as well as the official website for the event.
This launch took place at Swanhurst School’s media day. The launch activity also served as a tool for promoting the sport in the younger generation.
The school’s students got a chance to meet GBR top gymnasts and medal hopes, and listened to firsthand accounts of their training routines and experiences.
“We hope that events like this will inspire these pupils and the people of Birmingham to be more active and take up sports like gymnastics,” Councilor Martin Mullaney, Cabinet Member – Leisure, Sport and Culture, Birmingham City Council said.
GBR gymnasts are psyched about the event and count the location of the event as an encouraging boost for their upcoming performances in the World Championships. Having the home crowd’s support and cheer will raise their morale during the event.
“The home crowd can just create a great atmosphere for us and that’s going to make everyone on the team step up and raise their standards. We want to give the home crowd something to cheer,” Foster said.
The entire sports community, along with the sports fans, is hoping the Birmingham Championships are staged as successfully as the apparent efforts promise to be.
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