The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AS a part of their mandate to help the developing countries around the world, the International Gymnastics Federation has decided to hold their 2022 Board Meeting in the Bahamas.

The meeting, closed to the public, got started on Tuesday and will conclude on Saturday at the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island.

The federation, headed by president Morinari Watanabe, is the governing body for gymnastics worldwide. It is the oldest established international federation of an Olympic sport and has participated in the Olympic Games since their revival in 1896.

Through its operation, the federation governs eight sports, including gymnastics for all, men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline, comprising of double mini-trampoline and tumbling, aerobics, acrobatics and parkour.

Cora Hepburn, president of the Gymnastics Federation of the Bahamas since taking over from the late Barbara Thompson three years ago, welcomed the 25 visiting delegates to the international federation’s meeting that is normally held in Lausanne, Switzerland, where their headquarters is located as they oversee 156 national member federations.

“It was originally scheduled for 2021, but due to the pandemic, it had to be rescheduled to this year,” Hepburn said. “It has come to fruition, and they are here.”

On their arrival here, the delegates were feted to a welcome dinner reception on Tuesday at Cafe Martinique and on Wednesday, the Bahamas Olympic Committee hosted a dinner that included representatives from the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Education.

Today, the members will be touring the booster clubs, headed by Nicola Thompson, and the Nassau Nastics, headed by Trevor Ramsay. Hopefully through their tour, Hepburn said the international federation will be able to provide some more assistance to their federation for the future development of the sport in the country.

Watanabe, a Japanese native, said the Bahamas and Paradise Island has turned out to be an excellent venue for their meeting.

“The Bahamas has been a very good host to us. We are very happy with the way they have treated us here,” said Watanabe, who began his tenure as president in October 2016.

“This is the first time that we are hosting the meeting in this region, and everything has gone very well. We are very pleased with how the meeting has gone.”

Watanabe said they have been able to discuss a number of important topics pertaining to the further growth and development of the sport, but he can’t elaborate on what decisions and conclusions that they came to. “This is important for us as a board to meet and we are happy and delighted that we can get to do it here in the Bahamas,” Watanabe said.

Hepburn, a vice president of the BOC, said she was pleased that so many people came together to make the trip a success for the international federation.

While some delegates will leave town today, the majority of them will depart on Saturday.