Fujitsu Infinity ➙ CAN & GBR

I’m no longer confused on this new award begun 2019.

Canada’s women and Great Britain’s men were awarded the Infinity Award presented by FIG partner Fujitsu at the 51st FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Liverpool (GBR) on Sunday evening.

The award honours a national federation in Women’s and Men’s Artistic Gymnastics for its achievements at the World Championships. The winners are selected based on a combination of results, artistic merit, virtuosity in performance and challenges overcome.

FIG

U.S. $10,000 to each team. Actually it was U.S. $5000 to each team.

51ST FIG ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS LIVERPOOL (GBR) 29 October – 06 November, 2022

Rhys’ Gold Pommels ’22

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

in praise of GymCastic

Of all social media providers in Liverpool, GymCastic had the biggest team. And worked the longest hours.

They also organized a LIVE show which entertained me and hundreds more LIVE and online.

I listen to a lot of podcasts. But if you don’t, I suggest you try this episode of GymCastic. The LAST day of the World Championships Finals.

Click through and hit PLAY.

Nordic nations support Ukraine

If Putin successfully takes over Ukraine, why would he stop there?

Recall Hitler invaded Poland first. To justify the action, Nazi propagandists accused Poland of persecuting ethnic Germans living in Poland. Does that sound familiar?

If Putin successfully takes over Ukraine, why wouldn’t the Chinese dictator-for-life take that as a green light to invade Taiwan?

There’s a very good argument for banning Russian and Bellarusian judges & officials from FIG events, as well as athletes.

It sounds like FIG need to change their rules and regulations before taking that step. Perhaps that can be done at the upcoming FIG Congress in Turkey.

It’s November 2022. On what date will IOC ban athletes from the Paris Olympics? Right now it seems unlikely Putin will stop bombing civilians any time soon.

Blythe & Olly in Liverpool

This commentary team brings a light, upbeat vibe to Gymnastics broadcasting.

I particularly enjoyed their 1-minute summing up video of each long, long day.

WATANABE Hazuki – Qualification Beam

As promised, FIG is uploading all qualification routines to YouTube without GeoBlocking.

Hazuki ended up the surprise World Champion. Here’s the routine that got her into the Beam Final.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Worlds Liverpool wraps-up

Worlds Liverpool went surprisingly well.

One of the better worlds in recent memory. Not Glasgow 2015 good — but very good.

35,000 tickets sold and sell-out crowds for the final weekend.

Local fans had much to cheer about. Men & women’s teams both were top 3 — automatic qualification to the Paris Olympics. Six medals total including Gold on Floor for Giarnni Regini-Moran & Jessica Gadirova.

The FREE Championships Fan Zone was great for the kids.

406 volunteers worked 15,000 hours total.

Despite no covid precautions, I didn’t hear of even one gymnast having to withdraw due to the virus. (One medal contender from Taiwan didn’t travel to Liverpool because he had covid, however.)

Nicolas Buompane, FIG secretary general, answered the toughest question at the final Press Conference: Norway and 6 other nations opting not to attend FIG Congress 2022 in Istanbul.

Nicolas explained that FIG currently has no process for banning delegates. It would need to be added to their rules. And that their lawyers have concluded that FIG would lose any court challenge to such a ban.

Watanabe was more philosophical. An international democratic organization should listen to all view points. He respects both the Russian Federation and those who oppose those delegates attending Congress. He hopes that all member Federations will soon be back together as a family.

Personally, I’m worried about China invading Taiwan. In that case, I expect Chinese athletes to be banned from FIG events.