Bruno Grandi is not happy.
As quoted in Gymnastics Examiner:
“Originally created to serve the development of our sport, the Code has mutated into a time bomb that we are wholly unable to contain,” Grandi wrote. “Worse, it is a pitfall to judges and gymnasts alike, and creates situations that are often impossible to navigate. Remember Athens!”
Continue reading on Examiner.com
Grandi remembers Athens.
He remembers the Men’s Judges under Adrian Stoica bringing scandal and dishonour to our sport. More than anything else, the controversies of Athens resulted in our current open-ended Code of Points.
In Artistic Gymnastics, it’s not working. Here’s my Report Card:
The new Codes in each discipline were brought in under Grandi. I admire that he’s willing to admit there are problems. Serious problems.
The TIME BOMB looming (in my opinion) is that gymnasts and coaches are being forced to do more and more difficulty to win. When the inevitable catastrophic injury happens on TV, the general public will be asking why that athlete was doing such a difficult routine.
Almost everyone agrees that the Code has swung too far in rewarding difficulty.
Is it possible to swing back to rewarding excellence and artistry?
I’m not so sure.
But we should all back Bruno Grandi in this cause:
… In a dramatic and almost emotional letter to the gymnastics community at large Sunday, the FIG President evoked Roman law and the Athens Olympics judging scandals and called for “the technicians, judges and leaders in sport, to gather round a single table and revisit the Code; to re-equip our discipline with the structure and spirit originally inherent to it.” …
No major improvements will be made until after London, I’m afraid.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 