World Gymnaestrada

World Gymnaestrada
World Gymnaestrada 2011, Lausanne
Status active
Genre sports event
Frequency every fourth year
Inaugurated 1949 (1949)

Mass routines at the 1949 Lingiad in Stockholm

The World Gymnaestrada is the largest general gymnastics exhibition. It is held every four years much like the Olympics. But the focus of this event is not on winning medals. The Gymnaestrada is about Group Performances – some with hundreds or even thousands of participants. Adults and children of every age and description perform. Countries from around the world come together to showcase their talent and the culture of their various countries. The choreography is designed both to challenge the participants and to delight audiences. Routines are performed at various venues within the host country. Large group routines are known as "mass routines" which involve hundreds of gymnasts. The mass routines are often performed in large stadiums where spectators can take in routines performed by gymnasts from all over the world.

The World Gymnaestrada is the successor to the two Lingiads that were held in Stockholm in 1939 (100 years after Pehr Henrik Ling's death) and 1949.

The name Gymnaestrada is formed from the words gymnastik (international name for all sports relating to gymnastics), estrada (stage) and strada (street). It is believed to have been invented by J H Sommer, chairman of the Royal Dutch Gymnastics Federation and Mrs J. v.d.Most-Leyerweert, member of the board of DGF. They submitted their request for an international meet at the 1951 FIG conference.[1] Zurcaroh from season 13 of America's Got Talent represented Austria at WG in Helsinki.

Host cities

Edition Date City Country Participating
federations[2]		 Gymnasts[2]
I1953Rotterdam Netherlands145,000
II1957Zagreb Yugoslavia166,000
III26–30 July 1961Stuttgart West Germany1610,000
IV20–24 July 1965Vienna Austria2815,600
V2–6 July 1969Basle  Switzerland299,600
VI1–5 July 1975Berlin East Germany2310,500
VII13–17 July 1982Zurich  Switzerland2314,200
VIII7–11 July 1987Herning Denmark2517,300
IX15–20 July 1991Amsterdam Netherlands2819,500
X9–15 July 1995Berlin Germany3419,300
XI2–10 July 1999Göteborg Sweden3923,500
XII20–26 July 2003Lisbon Portugal5725,000
XIII8–14 July 2007Dornbirn Austria56[3]21,000
XIV10–16 July 2011Lausanne  Switzerland55[4]19,100
XV12-18 July 2015[5]Helsinki Finland5521,000
XVI7-13 July 2019Dornbirn Austria[6]

World Gymnaestrada 2015

The World Gymnaestrada 2015 was held in Helsinki, Finland, from 12 to 18 July.[5] It was the largest event ever held in Finland in terms of number of participants, surpassing even the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.[7]

The World Gymnaestrada Helsinki 2015 in brief:

  • 7 days of events
  • 55 nations
  • 21,000 participants coming from 5 continents
  • Average age 30
  • Over 600 hours of demonstrations and shows
  • More than 1,800 productions
  • almost 4,000 volunteers required

References

  1. ↑ link to Dutch newspaper article - http://collecties.hetutrechtsarchief.nl/Atlantis5/Mediaviewer-Kranten/imageviewer?InitFactor=6&Datasource=Atlantis5Adapter&Query=AtlantisWebQueryImage&QueryParams=940822275&HighlightQuery=AtlantisWebQueryImage&HighlightQueryParams=940822275~leyerweert
  2. 1 2 Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, Book "The story goes on..." 125 years of the FIG 1881-2006, p. 33 ; FIG Editions, 2006
  3. ↑ "wg2007.com". Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "Australian Pokies Games". Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Home - 15th WORLD GYMNAESTRADA 2015 HELSINKI". Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ "Sunnuntaina käynnistyvä Gymnaestrada on osallistujamäärältään suurin Suomessa järjestetty tapahtuma - Terveys - Ilta-Sanomat". Ilta-Sanomat. Retrieved 29 May 2016.

See also

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