Delegations from 27 European countries and more than 1,000 participants will take part, including some of the best gymnasts and teams in the world, as well as many visitors.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFThe ISRAEL acrobatics team visited the Peres Center for Peace this week and posed on the ‘Dream Big’ installation ahead of the European Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships, to be held in Holon later this month(photo credit: CHEN SHINAV)
The prestigious European Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships will be held for the first time in Israel in a giant production by the Israel Gymnastics Federation, in collaboration with the City of Holon, the host city.The competition will be held in the Holon Toto Arena from October 22 through November 9. Delegations from 27 European countries and more than 1,000 participants will take part, including some of the best gymnasts and teams in the world, as well as many visitors.“The Gymnastics Federation is moved to host the 2019 European Championships for the first time in Israel,” said Sarit Shenar, CEO of the Gymnastics Federation. “The European Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships are a vast production, a headline event, a show of professionalism and strength with the best in the field from Israel and around the world. Israel is considered a leader with a global reputation in this field, and we see it as a great honor to lead the field to impressive achievements in the international arena. We invite the public at large to come and watch these exciting competitions and cheer on the Israeli teams.”The event is intended for all lovers of sports, culture, and leisure. The competition is positioned as an event for the whole family by leveraging acrobatic gymnastics, which in recent years has enjoyed praise for the Israeli delegation’s impressive achievements around the world.Israeli gymnasts are ranked globally at the top of the world of acrobatics: at the last world championships, held in Belgium in 2018, Israel’s representatives won a team silver medal, a gold medal, and a bronze medal in the adult competition. In the last European championships, held in Poland in 2017, Israel’s representatives won four gold medals, a silver medal, and four bronze medals.One of the highlights of Israeli acrobatics arrived in the form of the Youth Olympic Games, held in Buenos Aires in the previous year, which included an acrobatics competition for the first time. Team Israel won a historic silver medal, thus earning the Gymnastics Federation’s first international medal. These achievements join the many successes of recent years in which Israel has consistently maintained its place at the global top.During the days of the championships, dozens of leading athletes from across Europe will face each other, in addition to the exhibition performances presented by the best acrobatics and gymnastics groups in Israel.Holon Mayor Moti Sasson voiced his excitement about the upcoming event.“It was an honor for the city of Holon to be asked by the European Union of Gymnastics to host the European Championships,” said Sasson. “These are the second European Championships to be held in Holon, three years after the city hosted the European Rhythmic Gymnastics Competition. I am certain that a wonderful and moving experience awaits you and invite everyone to come to Holon and enjoy themselves.”The field of acrobatics melds movements from ballet and dance with acrobatic elements in groups of duos, trios, and quartets. This combination positions this form among the most demanding forms of sport, requiring an extraordinary degree of synchronization, coordination, and teamwork.The European Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships are a competition managed by the European Union of Gymnastics (UEG) in which male and female athletes from across Europe participate. The championships’ qualifier is open to a maximum of two teams from each country in each category.In cases where both teams from the same country appear on top and qualify for the finals, only one team may advance to the finals. One medal may be won (in categories of age group and team format) in each of the following competitions: balance routines, dynamic routines, and multi-sport (combining the results of the two routines.) In other words, teams may win at most three medals each.The Israel Gymnastics Federation, founded in 1995, is a not-for-profit organization which works to promote all types of gymnastics in Israel, as well as to promote the achievements of gymnasts in Israel in foreign arenas. The Federation is entrusted with activities in the various forms of gymnastics professionally and in terms of budgeting and administration.The Gymnastics Federation works with various administrative entities, such as funding bodies, federations, professionals, and athletes, for all issues related to the operation and management of the field of gymnastics.The Olympic forms operate under the aegis of the Gymnastics Federation: rhythmic gymnastics, men’s artistic gymnastics, women’s artistic gymnastics, and trampoline, as well as the forms of acrobatic gymnastics (pyramids), acrobatic bar, aerobic gymnastics, and amateur activity tracks. The field of gymnastics in all its various forms constitutes one of the leading sports in Israel, both in terms of the number of active and registered athletes, and in terms of their achievements in the international arena. Thousands of young athletes from all over Israel are active in the field of gymnastics at various levels. The Gymnastics Federation believes that “Champions arise from thousands,” and for that reason makes great investments in building expansive infrastructure and increasing the base of the pyramid: to enable many more champions to enter the field of gymnastics.To this end, the Gymnastics Federation in Israel outlines professional plans and annual activity schedules tailored for both amateur gymnasts and those competing at the highest international levels and representing Israel today at home and abroad, bringing great pride to the Federation and the country.For more information, or to buy tickets for the championships, please visit www.leaan.co.il
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