ATHLETES from all 74 countries vying in the Third FIG Artistic Gymnastics Junior World Championships kicking off on Thursday at the Manila Marriott Hotel Grand Ballroom within the Newport World Resorts in Pasay City are all in and accounted for.
‘We would like to welcome all our athletes, coaches and officials who are taking part in the world juniors and we are grateful for their enthusiastic response to our international competition,’ said Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion after being informed of the development on Monday.
The moving force behind the staging of the global gymnastics spectacle, Carrion said that the contingents began streaming into the country over the weekend for five days thrilling days of action in the tournament backed by the Office of the President, Philippine Sports Commission and the Department of Tourism.
She noted that those who will take part in the elite meet sanctioned by the International Gymnastics Federation, known by its French acronym FIG, have already exceeded its past two editions.
The second world Juniors in Antalya, Turkey, drew 64 nations and 283 athletes while the current edition also supported by Smart/PLDT with Cignal TV as the official broadcaster has already surpassed double the number of campaigners to close to 750.
‘This shows the growing interest in this beautiful and dynamic Olympic sport worldwide, so FIG member countries are fielding their promising young gymnasts knowing that this a major stepping stone to their development,’ added Carrion of competition also supported by Milo, Pocari Sweat and Senator Pia Cayetano.
Given that this was a golden opportunity for local young gymnasts to be exposed to top caliber play, she was grateful that world gymnastics body allowed the Philippines to field boys and girls squads in the tournament.
They will bannered by Karl Eldrew Yulo, fresh from intensive training in Japan, and Elizabeth Antone, who bagged a silver in the men’s vault and bronze in the women’s all-around, respectively, in the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Junior Championships in Jecheon, South Korea last June.
‘While Paris Olympians Carlos Yulo, Aleah Finnegan and Emma Malabuyo have already proven themselves on the world stage, we need to sustain their gains so this was one of our prime motivations to have the world juniors here,’ she said.