International Gymnastics Federation

The International Gymnastics Federation (French: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, FIG) is the governing body of competitive gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on July 23, 1881, in Liège, Belgium, making it the world's oldest existing international sports organisation.[1] 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.[2]

International Gymnastics Federation
Logo
AbbreviationFIG
Formation23 July 1881 (1881-07-23)
HeadquartersAvenue de la Gare 12
Location
Region served
Worldwide
President
Morinari Watanabe
AffiliationsLongines, VTB, Cirque du Soleil
WebsiteGymnastics.sport
The FIG headquarters in Lausanne (2008-2016).
The FIG headquarters in Lausanne (since 2016).

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 (MAG) and women's artistic gymnastics (WAG); rhythmic gymnastics (RG); aerobic gymnastics (AER); acrobatic gymnastics (ACRO); trampolining (TRA); Double mini trampoline (DMT), tumbling (TUM) 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.[3] 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.[4]

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.

As of 2019, there were 148 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:[5]

  • 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.[6]

Presidents, and their tenures, of the FIG
PeriodNameCountry
1881–1924Nicolaas Cupérus Belgium
1924–1933Charles Cazalet France
1933–1946Adam Zamoyski Poland
1946–1956Goblet d’Alviella Belgium
1956–1966Charles Thoeni  Switzerland
1966–1976Arthur Gander  Switzerland
1976–1996Yuri Titov Soviet Union
 Russia
1996–2016Bruno Grandi Italy
January 2017–Morinari Watanabe Japan

Morinari Watanabe was elected president of the organization since 2017.[7]

Competitions
Main article: List of gymnastics competitions

According to the technical regulations of the International Gymnastcs Federation,[8] the competitions officially organized by FIG are:

Other official FIG competitions include:

Defunct events formerly organized of sanctioned by FIG:

Age eligibility rules
Main article: Age requirements in gymnastics

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.[15]

See also

References
  1. "Today in Francophone History". About.com. Archived from the original on 2008-10-05. Retrieved 2008-08-21.
  2. "Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique / History / Milestones". FIG. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
  3. Bissada, Mason; Dellatto, Marisa (8 March 2022). "International Gymnastics Federation Bars Russia, Belarus As Sports World Reacts To Ukraine Invasion". Forbes.
  4. "FIG decision regarding the conflict in Europe" (Press release). International Gymnastics Federation. 26 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  5. "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.)
  6. "FIG - About / Population". FIG. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
  7. "Watanabe elected as president of International Gymnastics Federation". Japan Times. Oct 19, 2016. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
  8. "Technical Regulations 2018" (PDF). FIG. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 28, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  9. "FIG - RG competitions". Archived from the original on 2000-12-06. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  10. "FIG - Four Continents". Archived from the original on 2000-12-06. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  11. FIG - Sports Acrobatics
  12. FIG - 1999 Junior World Championships
  13. FIG 2015 Technical Regulations
  14. Rio 2016 qualification system
  15. Elliot, Sarah. "Why Is There an Age Limit for Gymnasts in the Olympics?". LIVESTRONG.COM. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
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