Noch genau 100 Tage bis zur Welt-Gymnaestrada!

WORLD GYMNAESTRADA 2019 TO HOST RECORD NUMBER OF NATIONS

[LAUSANNE (SUI), 29 March 2019]

It is exactly 100 days until the 16th FIG World Gymnaestrada gets under way in Dornbirn, Austria and already the 2019 edition has reached a new landmark with a record 62 nations set to take part.

With the clock ticking down to Dornbirn 2019, Margaret Sikkens Ahlquist, president of the FIG Gymnastics for All Committee, said: “We are getting closer and now the real countdown can start. One hundred days for the gymnasts and their coaches to get the programmes ready for their performances, 100 days for the LOC to put the final touches to their organisation, and 100 days for the GfA Committee to complete the final preparations for our mission.”

“I would like to thank the LOC for all the progress they have already made,” she added. “We all have the same aim and that’s to have a fantastic Gymnastics experience together in Austria.”

In the 66-year history of the World Gymnaestrada, the current high watermark is 55 nations at the Lausanne 2011 edition, while 53 was the figure when Dornbirn hosted the event previously in 2007. This year, though, Dornbirn and the neighbouring towns of the Vorarlberg region can look forward to welcoming gymnasts from 62 countries who will descend on this picturesque corner of Austria for seven days in July.

Marie-Louise Hinterauer, president of the Local Organising Committee, said: “Sixty-two nations is a huge success and we can be really proud that we have been able to motivate so many countries to take part.”

“It’s incredible – there are only 100 days left until we will have the pleasure of welcoming the world Gymnastics family once again,” she added. “The entire Organising Committee team are putting a tremendous effort into the preparations and looking ahead to the 7th July with great enthusiasm.“

Overall, more than 18,000 gymnasts from across five continents are expected at the World Gymnaestrada which runs from 7-13 July. This will include 3,037 gymnasts from Switzerland – the nation with the biggest contingent – and two from Tonga, the country sending the smallest delegation. Tonga is one of twelve countries involved for the first time together with Armenia, Barbados, Benin, Colombia, Fiji, Iran, Malawi (part of the "Discovering Nations Programme"), Malta, Mozambique, Nepal and Paraguay.

Together with the newcomers, there will be eight countries who have taken part in every World Gymnaestrada since the first in 1953 – namely, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands and Sweden.

If that inaugural edition was an all-European affair, the World Gymnaestrada today is very much a global event. Gymnasts from three countries from Oceania will be travelling to Austria together with six from Africa, eight from Asia and 13 from the Americas.

A team effort

If Dornbirn is acting as the principal host of the World Gymnaestrada 2019, with the Group Performances staged at the Trade Exhibition Centre there between 8-12 July, this is an event which will spread out to include 11 venues across the scenic Rhine Valley.

Bregenz, Höchst, Wolfurt, Lustenau, Hohenems, Götzis, Rankweil and Feldkirch will all host City Performances on open-air stages while the Casino Stadium in Bregenz, the regional capital, will provide the venue for the Large Group Performances. Overall, 16 towns and villages will be hosting gymnasts and 8,000 volunteers will be playing their part in ensuring the success of the event.

“The fact that the World Gymnaestrada is coming to Vorarlberg for the second time in 12 years is not only a nice confirmation of Vorarlberg's good hospitality, but above all an incentive for the development of tourism which goes far beyond the event,” agree Christian Schützinger and Urs Treuthardt managing directors of the Vorarlberg tourism office and the Convention Partner Vorarlberg respectively. “This includes an event app, scheduled to be launched in April, which will provide visitors with transport and logistical information.”

For more information, visit the official event website at www.wg2019.at