LAUSANNE (SUI), April 26, 2012: Some 160 Artistic gymnasts from 40 different nations are registered to participate in the Grand Prix Osijek 2012, a FIG Challenge Cup that begins Friday in Croatia’s fourth largest city.
Hosted by the Croatian Gymnastics Federation and organised by GD Osijek – Zito the competition will be held at Gradski vrt sports hall and equipped with apparatus supplied by long-term FIG partner Spieth. After successful editions in 2009, 2010 and 2011, this marks the fourth Artistic Gymnastics competition to be staged in Osijek under the FIG label. Using the Individual Apparatus format, the tournament consists of Qualifications and Apparatus Finals.
Argentina’s Valeria Pereyra, Australia’s Larrissa Miller, Canada’s Christine Lee, Greece’s Vasiliki Millousi, Poland’s Marta Pihan-Kulesza and Switzerland’s Giulia Steingruber stand out on the women’s roster that represents all continents, including entries from Egypt.
On the men’s side, Yann Cucherat (FRA), Eleftherios Kosmidis (GRE), Alexander Shatilov (ISR), Mitja Petkovsek (SLO) and Mykola Kuksenkov (UKR) are among the many World and European championship medallists in the Osijek line-up, which boasts Pan-American star gymnasts Diego Hypolito and Arthur Zanetti (BRA), Tomas Gonzalez (CHI), Daniel Corral (MEX) and Luis Rivera (PUR).
Click here for the list of nominative registrations and find more information on the event website at http://www.osijekgym.com/.
History of the Osijek – Žito Club
Gymnastics appeared in Croatia and Osijek relatively early on, but only as a light workout for German and Austrian soldiers stationed on the military base at Osijek. Pervo Društvo Gombalacah was formed on August 19, 1865 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Croatia.
The foundations were laid for gymnastics in the city of Osijek at an official ceremony held on September 2 and with a “Request for Approval of the Rules of Pervoga Društva Gombalach”. Today, that request is an integral part of the club’s Statutes.
After nearly 20 years of inactivity, and due to the political circumstances of the time, December 6, 1896 will always be remembered as the day when Croatia’s first club was formed, with founders Dr Ante Pinterović and Adam pl. Reisner at the head. These were the founding blocks of what is now the leading sports club in Osijek, Gimnastičko društvo Osijek.
Today, Gimnastičko društvo Osijek-Žito is home to experienced coaches and skilled gymnasts, the result of many team members’ hard work.
About 2012 FIG Individual Apparatus Artistic Gymnastics World Cup and Challenge Cup Series
The 2012 FIG Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics series for Individual Apparatus includes one World Cup (category A) and six Challenge Cup (category B) competitions.
Zibo City (CHN) on April 7 – 8 will host the 2012 Individual Apparatus World Cups, while 2012 Challenge Cups will take place on March 22 – 25 in Cottbus (GER), March 28 – 30 in Doha (QAT), April 20 – 22 in Maribor (SLO), April 27 – 29 in Osijek (CRO), June 9 – 10 in Ghent and November 23 – 24 in Ostrava (CZE).
Separate World Ranking lists will be established for CIII, six for men and four for women, with the Individual Apparatus rankings including combined lists for World Cups and Challenge Cups.
Invitation to the Individual Apparatus World Cup is based on the CIII rankings from the 2011 World Championships, the 2011 World Cup Ranking List for Individual Apparatus and the 2011 Challenge Cup Ranking List, and is limited to twelve gymnasts with a maximum of two entries per country on each apparatus. Moreover, the organising member federation can grant wild cards to a maximum of one man and one woman on one apparatus. The competitions include Qualifications and Finals with the best four gymnasts per apparatus proceeding to the final round. An additional one wild card per Men’s and Women’s competition is allowed in the event that the host federation fails to qualify for the Finals.
The Challenge Cup series is an open category featuring qualifying and final rounds, with participation limited to two gymnasts per country and apparatus. The best eight gymnasts per apparatus advance to the Final. An extra one wild card per Men’s and Women’s competition is allowed in the event that the host federation fails to qualify for the Finals.
The winners of the 2012 Individual Apparatus World Cup and Challenge Cup Series are those gymnasts with the highest number of points for each apparatus and the best four results counting after the last event in Ostrava, where special award ceremonies will be held and the winners will receive a cup.
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