Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championship 2012 Venue Selected: Everett, Washington
It is official! The Pacific Rim Gymnastics 2012 will be held at Everett, Washington, in March 2012. The official announcement was made at Everett’s Comcast Arena.
The announcement was attended by Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon, Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson, USA Gymnastics President Steve Penny and the legendary gymnastics Coach Bela Karolyi.
The Pacific Rim Championship, previously known as the Pacific Alliance Championships, is one of the major regional gymnastics tournaments.
It is held every second year for the nations lining the Pacific coast, traditionally including Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia and USA.
The event will be held at Everett’s Comcast Arena, with the rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline taking place at the Comcast Community Ice Rink, which expands over 57,000 square foot of space.
Developed by the Everett Public Facilities District and recipient of the esteemed Venue Excellence Award 2010 (awarded by the International Association of Venue Manager, IAVM), the arena houses 10,000 seats.
The venue has been utilized for a wide ken of events, including concerts, ice skating and family shows. It has also been home to the National Lacrosse League Champions in 2010, the Washington Stealth, and Western Hockey League franchise, Everett Silvertips.
The facility is managed by Global Spectrum, a part of the renowned sports and entertainment company, Comcast-Spectator, which is based in Philadelphia, Pa.
Last organized in 2010, the championship is here again, scheduled for March 16, 2012, spanning a period of three days.
The opening ceremony of the event is sponsored by the Tulalip Resort Casino, and will be followed by the team and all-round finals for women’s gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics.
Day two will bring the team and all-round finals for men, as well as the rhythmic gymnastics individual event finals.
The tournament will wrap up on March 18 with individual event finals, trampoline preliminaries and trampoline finals for both men and women.
The Tulalip Resort Casino will also sponsor rooming facilities for visiting athletes and officials from competing countries.
The Pacific Rim Championship will be the largest international gymnastics event hosted by Washington State since the 1990 Goodwill Games, and the announcement has definitely got the Seattle/Everett air rife with excitement.
“The character of the Pacific Rim is so alive in the Seattle/Everett area, which provides the perfect backdrop to host athletes from all over this region.” Penny said.
Seattle’s gymnastics enthusiasts seldom see any elite-level activities. In fact, junior national champion, Katelyn Ohashi, had to leave her hometown to train because according to her “there were no elite programs in Seattle”.
While Seattle has held three major gymnastics events, this is Everett’s first chance at the honour.
Governor Gregoire is very positive about the fringe benefits of the event to his state. He emphasized that the tournament did not just put them down in history, as they shaped the way to London Olympics 2012, but was also instrumental in giving local retail
and tourism a boost.
More than 300 of the best gymnasts from world over will fly in for these high-profile regionals as Everett awaits to welcome them with fervour and hospitality, coming March.
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