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International Gymnastics Federation

Abbreviation	FIG
Formation	23 July 1881; 143 years ago (1881-07-23)
Founded at	Liège, Belgium
Headquarters	Avenue de la Gare 12
Location	Lausanne, Switzerland
Region served	Worldwide
President	Morinari Watanabe
Affiliations	Longines, VTB, Cirque du Soleil
Revenue	US$17.32 million (2019)
Expenses	US$16.19 million (2019)
Website	Gymnastics.sport

The International Gymnastics Federation (French: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, abbr. FIG) is the body governing competition in all disciplines of gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on 23 July 1881 in Liège, Belgium, making it the world's oldest existing international sports organisation. Originally called the European Federation of Gymnastics, it had three member countries—Belgium, France and the Netherlands—until 1921, when non-European countries were admitted and it received its current name.

The federation sets the rules, known as the Code of Points, that regulate how gymnasts' performances are evaluated. Seven gymnastics disciplines are governed by the FIG: artistic gymnastics, further classified as men's artistic gymnastics and women's artistic gymnastics; rhythmic gymnastics; aerobic gymnastics; acrobatic gymnastics; trampolining; double mini trampoline, tumbling and parkour. Additionally, the federation is responsible for determining gymnasts' age eligibility to participate in the Olympics.

After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIG barred Russian athletes and officials, including judges. It also announced that "all FIG World Cup and World Challenge Cup events planned to take place in Russia ... are cancelled, and no other FIG events will be allocated to Russia ... until further notice." FIG also banned the Russian flag at its events. In 19 July 2023, FIG decided to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes and support personnels to participant events under individual neutral athletes.

Organization

The main governing bodies of the federation are the president and vice presidents, the Congress held every two years, the Executive Committee, the Council, and technical committees for each of the disciplines.

In 2023, there were 161 national federations affiliated with FIG, one of which have been suspended, as well as one associated federation, one provisional federation and the following five continental unions:

• European Union of Gymnastics (UEG)
• Pan-American Gymnastic Union (PAGU)
• Asian Gymnastic Union (AGU)
• African Gymnastics Union (UAG)
• Oceania Gymnastics Union (OGU)

Across all disciplines, participation in FIG-sanctioned events exceeds 30,000 athletes, about 70% of whom are female.

Presidents, and their tenures, of the FIG

Period	Name	Country
1881–1924	Nicolaas Cupérus	Belgium
1924–1933	Charles Cazalet	France
1933–1946	Adam Zamoyski	Poland
1946–1956	Goblet d’Alviella	Belgium
1956–1966	Charles Thoeni	Switzerland
1966–1976	Arthur Gander	Switzerland
1976–1996	Yuri Titov	Soviet Union  Russia
1996–2016	Bruno Grandi	Italy
January 2017–	Morinari Watanabe	Japan

Morinari Watanabe was elected president of the organization since 2017.

Competitions

According to the technical regulations of the International Gymnastcs Federation, the competitions officially organized by FIG are:

• World Gymnastics Championships
  • World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
  • World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships
  • Trampoline and Tumbling World Championships
  • Aerobic Gymnastics World Championships
  • World Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships
  • Parkour World Championships

• World Cup series
  • Artistic Gymnastics World Cup
  • Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup
  • Trampoline World Cup
  • Acrobatic Gymnastics World Cup
  • Aerobic Gymnastics World Cup
  • Parkour World Cup
• World Challenge Cup series
  • Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup
  • Rhythmic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup

Other official FIG competitions include:

• Olympic Games
• Youth Olympic Games
• World Games
• Junior World Gymnastics Championships
  • Junior World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
  • Junior World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships
• World Age Group Competitions

Defunct events formerly organized of sanctioned by FIG:

• Four Continents Gymnastics Championships
• Junior World Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships
• Olympic Games Test Events

Age eligibility rules

The FIG regulates the age at which gymnasts are allowed to participate in senior-level competitions. The purpose is to protect young gymnasts. This has caused some controversy, and there have been cases of age falsification.

See also

• Major achievements in gymnastics by nation
• International Trampoline Federation

References

1. ^ Perelman, Rich (24 May 2020). "Who's in the money? EXCLUSIVE analysis of our survey of International Federation finances". The Sports Examiner. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
2. "Today in Francophone History". About.com. Archived from the original on 2008-10-05. Retrieved 2008-08-21.
3. "Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique / History / Milestones". FIG. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
4. Bissada, Mason; Dellatto, Marisa (8 March 2022). "International Gymnastics Federation Bars Russia, Belarus As Sports World Reacts To Ukraine Invasion". Forbes.
5. "FIG decision regarding the conflict in Europe" (Press release). International Gymnastics Federation. 26 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
6. "FIG Executive Committee decision concerning the participation of athletes with Russian and Belarusian sporting nationality in international competitions". FIG. 19 July 2023.
7. "Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique". FIG. Retrieved 2018-07-27. (This page includes a search form that returns results for continental unions, affiliated federations, associated federations, or provisional federations.)
8. "FIG - About / Population". FIG. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
9. "Watanabe elected as president of International Gymnastics Federation". Japan Times. Oct 19, 2016. Archived from the original on 2018-07-04. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
10. "Technical Regulations 2018" (PDF). FIG. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 28, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
11. "FIG - RG competitions". Archived from the original on 2000-12-06. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
12. "FIG - Four Continents". Archived from the original on 2000-12-06. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
13. FIG - Sports Acrobatics
14. FIG - 1999 Junior World Championships
15. FIG 2015 Technical Regulations
16. Rio 2016 qualification system Archived 6 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
17. Elliot, Sarah. "Why Is There an Age Limit for Gymnasts in the Olympics?". livestrong.com. Retrieved 2017-05-30.

External links

• Official website

• International Gymnastics Federation
• Gymnastics governing bodies
• International sports organisations based in Switzerland
• Organisations based in Lausanne
• Sports organizations established in 1881
• 1881 establishments in Belgium
• Association of Summer Olympic International Federations