General Gymnastics
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WORLD GYMNAESTRADA: BERLIN, GERMANY 1995 Jennifer Gallahue Lee Educational Development Coordinator
6 he 10th World Gymnaestrada held in Berlin, Germany, July 915, was a fantastic cultural experience for the United States delegation. This was the first time for USA Gymnastics to send a full delegation to this general gymnastics event. The delegation was represented by gymnastics clubs from California, Indiana, Massachusetts, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
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Coming from all over of the world, participants represented various etlmic groups, cultures, and ways of performing. More than 20,000 participants from 35 countries attended the event, representing Australia, Austria, Egypt, Belgium, Brazil, China, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sou th Africa, Czechia, and the United States. The festivities began with a spectacular opening ceremony in the historical Berlin Olympic Stadium, where the 300 U.s. delegates participated in the official entry of the nations. "I am thrilled just to be able to participate in this event," said Betsy Griffith, a coach of Maverick Gynmastics Club. The rest of the week was primarily devoted to rehearsals, group performances, and attending evening performances of various countries. "The magnitude of this event is phenom-
enal. You just don't realize how big it is until you experience it," said Cheryl Johnson, choreographer of the McKeon School of Gymnastics and Dance. The U.S. was asked to participate in the English Speaking National Evening along with Great Britain and Canada. Also, the delegation was chosen to participate in the prestigious FIG Gala with 1,200 participants from five continents and 12 countries. "The chaos of the rehearsals developed into a beautiful show featuring performers from all corners of the world. It was amazing!" said USA Gymnas tics choreo gra pher, Paula Hilliker. By the end of the week, the participants, parents, and coaches began to realize how fortunate they were to be able to experience such an extraordinary event. " It's all about sharing and has to do with broadening their scope of gymnastics. Our group is very proud of the United States and I think they realized how much they appreciate what they have," said Barbara Murray Taylor, group leader of Maverick Gymnastics Club. Sylvia Laznovsky, assistant for SOKOL KHB said, "I think everyone will take away the realization that there is much more to gymnastics than what we have known." Everyone who attended and participated found that not only was this event about celebrating the sport of gymnastics, but also how gynmastics plays an important role in cultural exchange and can create fun and friendships. "This certainly is going to go down in the books as one of those great life experi-
ences, " said Murray Taylor. "I can tell you that this event was a most moving experience-I' ve never seen anything like this. This is the greatest event for world peace, because everyone goes away with a joyous feeling about meeting people from all over the world," said Dennis David, parent, Fallbrook Gymnastics Club. The week was officially declared over at the closing ceremony celebrated by various
large group performances and a special performance from the Swedish delegation inviting everyone to participate in the 1999 World Gymnaestrada in Gotenborg, Sweden. "This is the greatest experience the kids have ever had. Now tha t our parents have seen how much fun it is, they want to participate at the next World Gymnaestrada in Sweden," said Dean Capelotti, group leader, Fallbrook Gymnastics Club.
QUOTABLES Amazing! Unbelievable!-Wade Garrett, 24 - Sokol It was a lot of effort!-Sarah Wheeler, 8 - McKeon's I would definitely do this again!-Jackie Wheeler, 12 - McKeon's It's neat how people from all over come together for this event.-Whitney Goldstein, 11 - McKeon's It's great to see all these people of all ages, from all over the world come together with one goal in mind-to have fun and enjoy the sport of gymnastics (general gymnastics).-Lil Laznovsky, group leader - Sokol It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to participate and meet so many people from all over the world.Kristen Keith, 14 - Fallbrook
August/September 1995
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