The President's Note N° 1 - 2021

Dear members of the Gymnastics family!

The last month of 2020 will remain in our memory with two European Championships in Artistic Gymnastics taking place in Mersin (TUR).

Everybody remembers the story of these Championships. Originally planned to be held in Paris (FRA) and Baku (AZE) in spring, but due to difficulties caused by the global pandemic, these events found a new host and were consequently held in Mersin in winter.

We started with the Men’s Artistic Gymnastics competitions (December 9-13), followed by the Women’s events (December 17-20).

At both Championships, we witnessed a reduced number of Federations taking part in comparison with previous years. Considering that not all teams managed to compete, we still enjoyed magnificent performances from medallists of the Olympic Games, World and European Championships.

Moreover, the Championships gave an opportunity to rising stars to earn medals in which they succeeded. The representatives of the Ministries of Sports and other state bodies warmly welcomed these gymnasts, which was well captured and broadcasted by social media. I am confident that these achievements will provide stimulus for further development and progress of gymnastics in these countries.  

We, together, succeeded to hold these competitions during the COVID-19 pandemic despite of the difficulties it brought us. We managed to show that life does go on! I would like to express my gratitude to the Executive Committee of European Gymnastics, its Men’s & Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Technical Committees, its office staff, the participating Federations and all the people involved in our events. The endeavours of the Turkish Gymnastics Federation, the Local Organising Committee and Mersin City Administration strongly supported by the Government deserve sincere appreciation. Within a very short period, the Organisers tackled all the administrative issues and followed a strict protocol regarding the events held during the pandemic.

We were honoured by the presence of President of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) - Mr. Morinari Watanabe, and FIG Men’s Artistic Gymnastics Technical Committee President - Mr. Arturs Mickevics who attended our events and showed their great support.  

I think these competitions will serve as a good model for future events organised in challenging conditions. The more competitions we hold now, the more hands-on experience we will have by the time of the Tokyo Olympic Games. As we know, the world is doing its best to produce a vaccine that will guarantee a long-term adaptive immune response against Covid-19. In great relief, many countries have already implemented its vaccination procedures. This is definitely what we have all wished for the New Year.  

2020 is now history, and we should be optimistic and concentrate on competitions originally planned for 2021 and those postponed from last year. We need to think how to optimise the organisation of these events and continue the policy of European Gymnastics directed to the development and progress of gymnastics disciplines.

I wish to everyone what our strong athletes have: strength, patience, inspiration, determination and of course good health! With support from one another, we shall achieve these characteristics and maintain the level of our sport, and will do so as one!

See you at future competitions and may 2021 bring us some joy!