FIG President Recognized Japan’s Highest Honour

Lausanne (SUI) / Tokyo (JPN), April 11, 2013: On April 8, 2013, the Nippon Sport Science University (NSSU) in Tokyo granted the title of Dr Honoris Causa to Prof. Bruno Grandi (ITA), President of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). The distinction pays tribute to the professor’s career and stellar work inside international sport over more than fifty years.

A national-level gymnast as a teenager, coach and selector for Italy’s Men’s team, President of his federation, Vice-President of the Italian NOC, recipient of the Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit distinction, international judge and FIG President since 1996, Bruno Grandi has devoted his entire life to gymnast education and preservation, the reform and development of national and international structures and the fight for sport justice. He is unanimously applauded by his colleagues for his experience, integrity and enthusiasm.

The ceremony was held at Tokyo’s Nittaidai University in the presence of highly respected Japanese sport and scholarly authorities, notably Masato Mizuno, Noriyuki Ichihara, ChiharuIgaya, Vice-President, Executive Director and Honorary Member of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) respectively; as well as Hidenori Futagi, President de la Japan Gymnastics Association (JGA), and Ryosho Tanigama, Shigeaki Abe and Daizo Hakamada, President and Vice-Presidents of Nippon Sport Science University (NSSU) respectively.

In his speech, Prof. Grandi expressed a commitment to taking up the challenge faced by gymnastics, particularly in terms of ethics and the development of the discipline’s artistic content. “My gratitude to Japan’s sport and scholarly authorities; I applaud the immense gymnastic culture and tradition that your country continues to foster today. This title honours the international gymnastics community to which I have devoted my entire career, and which I continue to serve. I am proud of how far we’ve come, and look forward to the objectives and mission I have embraced and with which the 130 FIG affiliated federations have entrusted me through a new mandate at the head of the FIG,” said the President at the close of the ceremony. —- FIG / Image © NSSU