14. September 2018  
Sofia, BUL  
Rhythmic Gymnastics

FIG President Watanabe discussed the future of Rhythmic Gymnastics

FIG President Watanabe about the Future of RG

* fig - n e w s---: International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) President Morinari Watanabe led a roundtable discussion at the 2018 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Sofia (BUL) to address key issues for the sport's future and the technical direction of the discipline. President Watanabe was joined by members of the FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics Technical Committee and the FIG Competition Commission to speak with 85 delegation members representing dozens of federations.
The FIG roundtable discussion with the delegations during the World Championships is an initiative from President Watanabe himself, who took office in January 2017.
He also created a working group to increase innovation in Rhythmic Gymnastics.

Anelia RALENKOVA (BUL) - World champion 1983, with high degree of individuality, technical class and artful aesthetics

Evolution of Rhythmic Gymnastics

President Watanabe reviewed the evolution of the discipline over the past four decades. He first became familiar with Rhythmic Gymnastics in the 1980s as a university student in Sofia and noted that the direction of the sport has strayed from its former emphasis on artistry and musicality as seen in the 1980's and the early 1990's.
"Rhythmic Gymnastics in those days was artwork," he said. "Beauty was very important and it was an elegant sport. Therefore, gymnasts in those days needed to understand the artistry, and they needed to understand music."
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In the 2000's, the sport shifted toward more extreme flexibility and emphasis on apparatus elements at the expense of artistry, he stated, and a movement to emphasise artistry returned in the 2010s. "Coaches and gymnasts continue to try to harmonise the sport with artistry, but more can be done," he said.

Nataliya Kuzmina, President of the RG Technical Committee, agreed this was an ongoing issue. "We have a problem in a relation of artistry," she said. "Of course you can see progress in our exercises. Coaches respect music more."
After the 2004 Olympics, the FIG introduced an open-ended scoring system across its disciplines, including Artistic Gymnastics and Rhythmic Gymnastics. President Watanabe stated that the FIG should rethink its priority for a uniform scoring system for multiple disciplines. "The FIG tried to have common ground among all FIG disciplines," he said, "In this regard, I, as a new FIG president, have a different policy. I want to take advantage of the unique future of each discipline, as each discipline has its own each history and culture. I hope that Rhythmic Gymnastics develops as its own discipline."

Olympic qualification, format of major competitions
Topics discussed in the open forum including the current World Championship format, schedules for the FIG World Cup and World Challenge Cup series, and the qualification process for the 2024 Olympic Games.
* The current length of the World Championships invited suggestions of splitting the competition into separate events for Individuals and Groups,
* ...as well as requiring a qualification event to attend in order to reduce the number of participants.
* Restoring the Olympic Test event as a final qualifier, instead of allowing qualification through World Cup events, was suggested for both economic reasons and for the prestige,
* ... and the idea of continental qualification was also raised.
President Watanabe will meet with the gymnasts on Friday in Sofia during the Athletes’ Meeting led by FIG Athletes' Commission President and Rhythmic Gymnastics representative Liubou Charkashyna (BLR).
* Source: fig-news