FÉDÉRATION INTERNATIONALE DE GYMNASTIQUE
Letter from the President
Nr 59
By Prof. Bruno Grandi, President of the FIG March 2012
Dear Friends,
I would like to share with you some reflections on a curious issue, which currently fuels debate
within the gymnastics community and one which, I believe, forms part of a very topical broader
socio-cultural context.
I recently visited my friends at the Norwegian Gymnastics Federation to sign the agreement for the
organisation of the 3rd edition of the World Gym For Life Challenge, which is scheduled to take
place in 2017. While there, I took the opportunity of commenting to their President, Stig Nilsson,
and General Secretary, Oistein Leren, on the extent to which Gymnastics for All has thrived over
the years in the Nordic countries, and how I thought that its values and sporting model ought to be
exported more effectively to other parts of the world and other sporting cultures.
My friends from the Norwegian Federation acknowledged that the Nordic countries had indeed
taken to Gymnastics for All like the proverbial duck to water, but that, conversely, they no longer
produced any world champions. Meanwhile, they pointed out, there are plenty of countries without
any particular gymnastic tradition that are producing Olympic and world champions in all of the
disciplines.
So, is there a disconnect between elite level gymnastics and the grassroots of our sport? One
could legitimately ask the question: why, with regard to the former, the sporting pyramid has no
peak, and with regard to the latter, why the pyramid has no base?
In my view, the answer is that there is a lack of ambition and of a clear vision.
The marvellous Nordic tradition contains an extraordinary pool of talent and potential champions
that are simply waiting for that spark that will enable them to explode on to the world stage. There
is no lack of skills, and the requisite human and technical resources are all in place. In my view,
Nordic gymnastics has the solid cultural and structural foundations needed to springboard itself to
a higher level; it simply needs an ambitious project that can act as the catalyst.
On the other hand, if there are countries that can no longer depend on a healthy grassroots, it is
because gymnastics there has fallen behind the times and lost ground to other sports, which have
seen the light and managed to establish themselves as a credible and attractive option for the
public at large. Athletics has its marathons, cycling has its competitions open to the public,
volleyball, basketball, football and hockey all have their street and beach competitions, and these
have all syphoned off the youngsters from the gymnastics halls which are no longer able to attract
them.
There is a lesson here for us all.
There is no rule that does not have its exceptions. In the gymnastics world, that exception is
Germany with its DTB. This country has a gymnastic tradition dating back to Friedrich Ludwig Jahn
in 1811. Some 200 years later, Germany has more than five million gymnasts and will be
represented at London 2012 in all of the disciplines, with a very real chance of finishing among the
medal winners.
Hence, I would conclude that Gymnastics for All is in no way incompatible with top-level
gymnastics.
With best wishes,
66
FÉDÉRATION INTERNATIONALE DE GYMNASTIQUE