F.I.G. : Drawing of Lots in Stuttgart

Belenki - drawing of lots

At the Stuttgart 'House of Sports' the drawing of lots both for the men and women for the upcoming world championships in artistic gymnastics, which will be held from September 1st to 9th in the Hans-Martin Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart the 'European Sports Capital'.
These 40th gymnastics world championships have already set a record concerning the number of registrations, with no less than 518 athletes from 84 countries registered!
Olympic and former world champion Valerie Belenki drew the lots at today's event...

House of SpOrts' in Stuttgart, today

While the German men's national team has reason to pleased with the lots drawn for them, the German women were not quite so lucky:
They will be competing on the very first day, September 1st, at 13.30 in the third of three heats where they will be competing against the Ukrainian team as well as two mixed groups composed of individual registrants.

Head of team Ulla Koch: "... We'll just have to make the best of the situation! "
However, she described the first apparatus, uneven bars, as 'ideal'.

Then the German girls will have a long wait, because their strongest competitiors for the coveted 12th place, which is also the qualification for the Olympic games, such as the Netherlands, France, Canada, Great Britain and the USA, as well as the highly motivated Swiss team, won't be performing till the last two heats (9th and 10th) of the next day!

Valerie Belenki from Stuttgart was luckier in his draw for the German men's team:
They will be competing on Tuesday, September 4th at 18.30 in the eigth and last heat together with the teams from Spain, Korea and three more so-called mixed groups.

* DRAW.
>> Women. Qualifying days: 01. - 02. Sep 2007 (10 heats of four groups each)
>> Men, Qualifying days: 03. - 04.09.2007 (8 heats of 6 groups each),
(including the mixed groups of individual registrants)

FIG president Bruno Grandi was able to publicise the first record:
Never before have 84 countries registered participants for a gymnastics championship two months before the event!
284 men from 81 countries and 234 women from 63 countries are expected to compete.

One last time: the sole opportunity to qualify for the Olympic games
He also pointed out the the Stuttgart world championships will be the last event of its kind to be sole opportunity to qualify for the Olympic games.
The intention for the future is to create a second opportunity to qualify; this could be the so-called 'Pre-Olympics', which take place as test competitions in the Olympic sites.
(c) gymmedia