Birmingham to host 2010 European Championships
Birmingham has been chosen as the host city for The European
Championships in Men’s and Women’s Team and Individual
Artistic Gymnastics 2010.
The European Union of Gymnastics (UEG) has announced that
the prestigious event – the third largest in the world
gymnastics calendar – will take place at Birmingham’s
National Indoor Arena (NIA), thanks to the combined efforts
of Marketing Birmingham, Birmingham City Council, British
Gymnastics and UK Sport.
At the NIA Press Conference a number of speakers talked about
the benefits to both British Gymnastics and The City of Birmingham
that will arise through these games.
World Champion Beth Tweddle and Commonwealth Champion Louis
Smith were also present to voice their delight at being given
the chance to perform in front of a passionate home crowd,
Beth said:
“ This is the best opportunity gymnasts can get. Giving
the youngsters especially; the chance to see what its like
with everyone screaming and shouting for you will be a huge
boost to their performance”
Louis echoed these sentiments:
“ We are used to going to events in other countries
and perhaps getting half the crowd cheering so to get everyone
at home behind us would be an amazing experience.”
Paul Garber, Vice President of the UEG said:
"We are delighted to award this event to British Gymnastics
and the city of Birmingham and we are looking forward to returning
to the city following the successful hosting of our 2005 Congress.
As well as this congress, several significant gymnastics events
have been staged in Birmingham in recent years adding to the
city's established reputation as a world class city of sport.
We are therefore confident that the 2010 edition of the European
Artistic Gymnastics Championships will be the best ever."
The two week event will be a major gymnastics event ahead
of the London 2012 Olympics. It will attract around 800 of
Europe’s best gymnasts from 40 countries, bring an estimated
£3 million into the regional economy, and focus the
attention of international media on Birmingham.
Birmingham City Council Leader Mike Whitby said:
"We are delighted to welcome the UEG to Birmingham for
this prestigious event and look forward to furthering our
successful partnership with British Gymnastics.
"The expected income of these Championships to the City
is over £3 million which will boost our hotel, hospitality,
retail and tourist industries. In addition, the fact that
these Championships will be a key event ahead of the London
2012 Olympics it is extremely significant.
“I am confident that the 2010 Championships will further
improve our reputation as a world class sporting city. They
will once again highlight to the world the fantastic sporting
facilities available for teams using Birmingham as a training
base ahead of the 2012 Olympics."
Birmingham has a strong track record in gymnastics, having
hosted eight major events in a range of disciplines since
1993. Most recently the FIG Trampoline and Tumbling World
Cup Final took place in the city in 2006, the UEG Congress
in 2005 and the FIG’s 12th Artistic Gymnastics World
Cup Final in 2004. The success of these events, along with
that of the European Athletics Indoor Championships held at
the NIA earlier this year, has played a big part in the city
securing the 2010 championships.
Ian Squires, Chairman of Marketing Birmingham said:
“Birmingham is increasingly being recognised as a city
of excellence in many areas and sport is certainly at the
top of the list. The 1Birmingham: We Love Our Sport campaign
has been developed to strengthen this position and encourage
more people in Birmingham to get involved in sport, whether
as participants or spectators.
“Sporting events are high on the media’s agenda
and the 2010 championships will once again project Birmingham
and its sporting credentials onto an international stage,
demonstrating the importance of the new subvention fund awarded
to us earlier this year by Birmingham City Council, which
has helped the gymnastics championships to go ahead. The added
attention that the event will bring will also support the
city’s hotels, restaurants, bars, shops and attractions
and encourage more people to visit in the future.”
The 2010 championships are for men and women and include
junior and senior categories. Titles will be up for grabs
for teams, all around individuals and in the individual apparatus
finals.
The event will be jointly organised by Birmingham
City Council and British Gymnastics who’s Chief Executive,
Alan Sommerville, said:
"It is wonderful news that the UEG have awarded their
most prestigious event to British Gymnastics and the city
of Birmingham and this demonstrates the UEG’s recognition
of the success of the partnership developed in recent years.
I know that our gymnasts will be extremely excited and motivated
by the opportunity to participate in such a major event on
home soil and this championships will provide them with a
great taste of the atmosphere and tension that they can expect
to experience just two years later at the 2012 Olympics."
The event will be part funded through UK Sport’s National
Lottery backed World Class Events Programme, which has successfully
supported the winning of over 100 major sporting events to
the UK since 1997. UK Sport’s International Director,
John Scott, said the event would provide an important link
in the development pathway for UK gymnasts;
“This will be a very important stage in the development
of the junior team members as they look towards competing
in the senior ranks. UK Sport is focused on providing as many
opportunities as possible for events such as the 2010 European
Gymnastic Championships to occur on home soil to bolster the
team’s confidence before vital 2012 qualification events
later in the year.”
As well as experiencing the superb facilities on offer at
the NIA, gymnasts participating in the 2010 championships
will be able to use Birmingham’s new Gymnastics and
Martial Arts Centre for training. This centre is currently
being constructed at Alexander Stadium. It is being built
to international gymnastics standards and is set to be completed
in 2008.
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