Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championship organized in Romania

In 2023, Romania will be, for the first time, the host of the World Junior Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships.

The event will take place between July 6-8, 2023, at the BT Arena – Cluj Napoca and is organized by the Romanian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation under the auspices of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), in partnership with the Ministry of Sports and with the support of the City Hall of Cluj- Napoca.

This is the second edition of the Junior World Championships organized internationally, the first one taking place in Moscow, Russia in 2019, where 322 athletes from 61 countries participated. Following the success of the first edition, due to the large number of participants, the Executive Committee of the International Gymnastics Federation announced the addition of the World Junior Championships to the official sports calendar, which will be held every two years, in odd years. The 2021 edition was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The remarkable results achieved by our gymnasts in 2022, as well as the successful organization of three editions of the World Challenge Cup, were the decisive factors that contributed to the designation of Romania as the host country of this world-class event.

This year, Romania achieved the historic performance by obtaining the first gold medal in the individual event at the European Junior Championships in Israel, through Amalia Lică. Moreover, the Romanian team returned from Tel Aviv with the team silver medal and the bronze medal won by Christina Drăgan in ball. At the World Championships in Sofia last month, our gymnasts managed, after 26 years, to qualify in 3 object finals, in the first 8 gymnasts – Andreea Verdeș on ball and Annaliese Drăgan on clubs and ribbon. More than that, Annaliese also placed in the individual compound final among the top 18 gymnasts in the world.

“We are honored to be the host of this event and to bring the World Gymnastics Championships to Romania for the first time. We are glad that our efforts in recent years have confirmed the ability to organize competitions of such scope. This competition is of particular importance to juniors all over the world. Thus, Cluj Napoca becomes the starting point for the best gymnasts in the world, probably the future winners of the next editions of the Olympic Games”, said Irina Deleanu, President of the Romanian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation.

The competition consists of two distinct events: the individual event and the ensemble event. The tests included in the individual competition are: hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon, and in the overall test: 5 strings and 5 balls. The three days of intense competition will result in four world champions in the event finals, three gold medalist ensembles and the best team in the world. On Friday and Saturday, the gymnasts compete for the qualification in the finals, on Saturday there will also be the individual and team awards, and on Sunday the best 8 gymnasts and ensembles from each object will compete for medals in the individual and ensemble finals.

Romania will be represented in the competition both in the individual event and in the overall event. “We want our gymnasts to qualify for the object finals and we are confident that they will achieve the best possible results”, Irina Deleanu also declared.

Cătălin Donose

Photo – FRGR