World Gymnastics

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World Gymnastics
Formation23 July 1881; 144 years ago (1881-07-23)
Founded atLiège, Belgium
HeadquartersAvenue de la Gare 12
Location
Region served
Worldwide
President
Morinari Watanabe
AffiliationsLongines, VTB, Cirque du Soleil
RevenueUS$17.32 million[1] (2019)
ExpensesUS$16.19 million[1] (2019)
WebsiteGymnastics.sport
World Gymnastics headquarters in Lausanne since 2016

World Gymnastics, formerly the International Gymnastics Federation, is the body governing competition in all disciplines of gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on 23 July 1881 in Liège, Belgium, making it the world's oldest existing international sports organisation.[2] 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 the organization changed its name to the International Gymnastics Federation.[3] Following other sport governing bodies, the organization took its current name in December 2025.[4]

World Gymnastics headquarters in Lausanne (2008–2016)

The federation sets the rules, known as the Code of Points, that regulate how gymnasts' performances are evaluated. Seven gymnastics disciplines are governed by World Gymnastics: artistic gymnastics, further classified as men's artistic gymnastics and women's artistic gymnastics; rhythmic gymnastics; aerobic gymnastics; acrobatic gymnastics; trampolining; double mini trampoline, tumbling and parkour. Additionally, the federation is responsible for determining gymnasts' age eligibility to participate in the Olympics.

Organization

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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.

In 2023, there were 161 national federations affiliated with World Gymnastics, one of which have been suspended, as well as one associated federation, one provisional federation and the following five continental unions:[5]

Across all disciplines, participation in World Gymnastics-sanctioned events exceeds 30,000 athletes, about 70% of whom are female.[6]

Russia and Belarus suspension

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After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, World Gymnastics barred Russian athletes and officials, including judges.[7] It also announced that "all of the World Gymnastics World Cup and World Challenge Cup events planned to take place in Russia ... are cancelled, and no other World Gymnastics events will be allocated to Russia ... until further notice." World Gymnastics also banned the Russian flag at its events.[8] In 19 July 2023, World Gymnastics decided to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes and support personnels to participant events under individual neutral athletes.[9]

Presidents, and their tenures, of World Gymnastics

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Period Name Country
1881–1924 fr:Nicolaas Cupérus  Belgium
1924–1933 Charles Cazalet  France
1933–1946 Count Adam Zamoyski [ru] Poland
1946–1956 Count Felix Goblet d’Alviella [ru]  Belgium
1956–1966 Charles Thoeni  Switzerland
1966–1976 fr:Arthur Gander  Switzerland
1976–1996 Yuri Titov  Soviet Union
 Russia
1996–2016 Bruno Grandi  Italy
January 2017– Morinari Watanabe  Japan

Morinari Watanabe has served as president of the organization since his election in 2017.[10]

Tournaments

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Main article: List of gymnastics competitions

According to the technical regulations of World Gymnastics,[11] the competitions officially organized are:

Other official World Gymnastics competitions include:

Defunct events formerly organized of sanctioned by World Gymnastics:

Age eligibility rules

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Main article: Age requirements in gymnastics

World Gymnastics 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.[17]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Perelman, Rich (24 May 2020). "Who's in the money? EXCLUSIVE analysis of our survey of International Federation finances". The Sports Examiner. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  2. ^ "Today in Francophone History". About.com. Archived from the original on 2008-10-05. Retrieved 2008-08-21.
  3. ^ "Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique / History / Milestones". FIG. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
  4. ^ Duffy, Patricia (December 9, 2025). "International Gymnastics Federation rebrands as "World Gymnastics"". gymnastics-now.com. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  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. ^ Bissada, Mason; Dellatto, Marisa (8 March 2022). "International Gymnastics Federation Bars Russia, Belarus As Sports World Reacts To Ukraine Invasion". Forbes.
  8. ^ "FIG decision regarding the conflict in Europe" (Press release). International Gymnastics Federation. 26 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  9. ^ "FIG Executive Committee decision concerning the participation of athletes with Russian and Belarusian sporting nationality in international competitions". FIG. 19 July 2023.
  10. ^ "Watanabe elected as president of International Gymnastics Federation". Japan Times. Oct 19, 2016. Archived from the original on 2018-07-04. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
  11. ^ "Technical Regulations 2018" (PDF). FIG. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 28, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  12. ^ "Rhythmic Gymnastics". FIG Gymnastics. worldsport.com. Archived from the original on 2000-12-06. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  13. ^ "Sports Acrobatics". FIG Gymnastics. worldsport.com. Archived from the original on Dec 3, 2000.
  14. ^ "FIG – 6th Junior Sports Acrobatics World Championships". worldsport.com. Archived from the original on Oct 11, 2000.
  15. ^ "Technical Regulations Version 2015" (PDF). NSV Trampolin. FIG. 2015.
  16. ^ "Qualification System – Games of the XXXI Olympiad – Rio 2016: Fédération Internationale De Gymnastique: Artistic Gymnastics" (PDF). Japan Gymnastics Association. May 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 August 2016.
  17. ^ Elliot, Sarah. "Why Is There an Age Limit for Gymnasts in the Olympics?". livestrong.com. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
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