Morinari Watanabe: New President of International Gymnastics Federation
Q. Who was elected as the new President of the International Gymnastics Foundation on 20th Oct 2016?- Published on 24 Oct 16a. Morinari Watanabe
b. Bruno Grandi
c. Sepp Blatter
d. None of the above
ANSWER: Morinari Watanabe
Japan’s Morinari Watanabe on 20th Oct 2016 was elected the new President of the International Gymnastics Federation
- Watanabe has emerged victorious in the election after defeating rival candidate Georges Guelzec of France by a massive margin in a vote in the governing body’s Congress
- Watanabe is the secretary-general of the Japan Gymnastics Association who won 100 of the 119 votes
- Guelzec, the head of European Union of Gymnastics received just 19 votes
- Watanabe has become the ninth president of the FIG since it was established in 1881
- He succeeded Bruno Grandi who held this position for 20 years
- Watanabe is scheduled to take charge on January 1, 2016
- The International Federation of Gymnastics is a governing body of competitive gymnastics
- It was headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland
- It was founded on 23rd July 1881 in Liege Belgium
- It is the world’s existing international sports organisation originally known as the European Federation of Gymnastics
- It has three member nations namely Belgium. France and the Netherlands till 1921 when non European countries were admitted and it received its current name
- The federation sets rules called the Code of Points that regulate how gymnasts’ performances are assessed
- 6 gymnastics disciplines are governed by the FIG– artistic gymnastics, (men’s artistic gymnastics and women’s artistic gymnastics), rhythmic gymnastics, aerobic gymnastics, acrobatic gymnastics, and trampoline
- The federation is also responsible for determining if gymnasts are old enough to participate in the Olympics
