FIG names five European gymnasts as Ambassadors for World Championships

The International Gymnastics Federation FIG has announced their Athlete Ambassadors for this year’s World Championships. And all five are from Europe!

Rhythmic Gymnastics - Yana Batyrshina (RUS)

Blessed with extraordinary flexibility and leaping ability, Yana turned a new page in rhythmic gymnastics in the 90s. Her complex exercises and unique elements earned her a silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta – the first Olympic medal for any Russian gymnast in the discipline. She collected a total of nine world medals, including the bronze in the All-Around competition at the World Championships in 1995 and 1997, a world title with the Ball and another with the Rope, as well as two Team titles with Russia and 20 European medals, of which 5 golden!

Men’s Artistic Gymnastics - Fabian Hambuechen (GER) 

It was in Stuttgart in 2007 that Fabian had his finest hour at a World Championships with a silver medal in the All-Around, a Team bronze and, above all, a gold on the Horizontal Bar. Billed as the wunderkind of German gymnastics from a very early age, he collected a total of nine World Championship medals and two Olympic medals – the bronze in Beijing in 2008, and the silver in London in 2012, both on the Horizontal Bar – before finally achieving his ultimate goal of Olympic gold at his fourth and final Games in Rio in 2016.  

 

Women’s Artistic Gymnastics - Catalina Ponor (ROU)

Her elegant style and longevity at the summit make Catalina a 21st century icon of Romanian Gymnastics. At her first World Championships in 2003 in Anaheim, she picked up three silver medals – in the Balance Beam, Floor and Team competitions. The following year, silver became gold at the European Championships and, above all, in Athens where she collected a trio of Olympic crowns, in the same three finals. Several times she stepped away from her sport only to return, driven by the adrenaline rush of competition, to charm judges and public alike – as it was the case at the 2012 London Olympics where she won a Team bronze with Romania and the silver medal on Floor. Catalina is the only woman to have won an impressive five European titles on beam.

 

Trampoline - Lionel Pioline (FRA)

Lionel dominated the last World Championships held in Japan, in Osaka in 1984, with a gold in the Men’s Individual event and two bronze medals – one with the France team, the other in the Synchro Pairs. It marked a turning point in his career as he went on to win Individual gold at the World Games the following year, and again at the World Championships in 1986. A key figure in Trampoline in the 1980s, he reached the World Championships podium nine times overall – winning three golds.

 

Trampoline - Anna Dogonadze (GER)

Anna began her medal collection with a team world title under the flag of the Soviet Union in 1990 before changing colours, first to Georgia, the land of her birth, and then to Germany, her husband’s country, and it was under the German flag that she won gold in the individual event at the 2001 World Championships and the Athens Olympics in 2004. In a career spanning more than 20 years, in which she also excelled in the synchro event, she collected 15 World Championship medals, four of them golds, as well as two more in the World Games.

 

The Ambassadors’ mission is to share their passion for Gymnastics and their knowledge and experience of their discipline - not just with the latest generation of athletes but also with spectators and young gymnasts - at the upcoming World Championships. These events have gained even greater significance owing to the large number of places for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games that are at stake.

The Ambassadors will present the gold medal to the 2019 World Champion in the All-Around or Individual event of their discipline, as well as take part in official ceremonies, and lend their presence to beginners or initiation workshops, share their views of the competition and give behind-the-scenes insights on social media.