The 21st World Championships and 5th World Age Group Championships in Acrobatic Gymnastics are taking place at the prestigious Kelvin Hall Arena in Glasgow between the 3rd and 12th October 2008.
Great Britain’s forty-six strong squad are among some of the most talented gymnasts in the world. They will be looking to achieve even better results than at the last World Championships, the seniors returned from Coimbra in 2006 with a Silver team medal and the Men’s four from Bromley Valley brought home a Gold and the World champion’s crown.
Matei Todorov is the Technical Director of British Acrobatics: “At the moment everything is on track and we expect all of our senior gymnasts to have a great chance to medal. The Men’s four look great as do the Women’s trio who took Gold at the last years European Championships. The Women’s Pair have traditionally always been in a medal position and the new Men’s partnership is also looking very positive. Basically I think we can be very positive of some great results for Britain. Looking at the competition we have Russia, China, Ukraine, Belarus and ourselves as all being big contenders for podium places.”
Great Britain also dominated the Age Group Championships in Portugal and hope to achieve the same level of excellence at this year’s competition. The 11-16 and junior squads brought home three Gold and three Silver medals between them.
Matei says: “ In the Age-group we have always done well in both the 11-16 and 12-19 events. The 11-16 is perhaps the most unpredictable but also the most exciting as we get to see many groups that have never been seen before.”
This certainly sets the standard for this year’s team to beat on home soil.
There will be a huge, 534 gymnasts taking part, with delegations from Russia, Poland, Australia and the USA competing, against twenty seven other countries, in what is set to be a fantastic fortnight of Acrobatic gymnastics. This event is the Qualifying event for next Years World Games in Taipei, a further incentive for the British Team to go for the medals!
For more information visit the official World Championships website www.acro2008.com
Event Dates
3rd & 4th October 2008 - Age Group Championships Qualification
5th October 2008 - Age Group Championship Final
10th & 11th October 2008 - World Championships Qualification
12th October 2008 - World Championships Final
