FIG communications chief sees World Junior Gymfest as springboard to senior play

INTERNATIONAL Gymnastics Federation Communications Head Paul O’Neil views the 3rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics Junior World Championships in the Philippines next month for the athletes competing in the meet as a quick springboard to international play at the senior level.

“Don’t underestimate the junior world championships. I think this can be a springboard quickly to the senior level,” said O’Neil said in a statement shortly after the recent 53rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships held in Jakarta, Indonesia.

“We saw this with last year’s Paris Olympic Games and at the recent world championships. Two years is a relatively short time for gymnastics,” said the veteran British FIG Media chief of the third edition of the world junior meet set Nov. 20 to 24 at Manila Marriott Hotel Grand Ballroom inside the Newport World Resorts in Pasay City.

The last two editions held initially in Gyor, Hungary in Gyor, Hungary in 2019 and the second staged in Antalya, Turkey two years ago were, indeed, the spawning grounds of the youthful junior gymnasts to flourish on the global gymnastics stage.

A sterling example is Japanese Paris Olympic men’s individual all-around gold medalist Shinnosuke Oka, who ruled the event in the inaugural world juniors at the 5,500-seat Audi Arena in Hungarian city 121 kilometers northwest of the capital of Budapest.

On the other hand, the world junior meet held at the Antalya Gymnastics Hall in the bustling seaport Turkish city two years ago produced gymnasts who figured prominently in the last world championships held in Jakarta.

Among them were Italian Tommaso Brugnami and Japanese Tomaharu Tsunogai, who were the vault and horizontal bar gold medalists at the world junior meet in 2023.

Brugnami placed fourth in the finals of the men’s vault event won by Paris Olympic double gold medalist Carlos Edriel Yulo while Japanese Tsunogai also wound up fourth in the horizontal bar finals topped by Brody Malone of the US.

On the distaff side, Italian Giula Perotti, who bagged the floor exercise gold in Turkey, reached the finals of the world seniors, placing eight and last among the qualifiers.

“So it (the world junior championships) is a great opportunity for the gymnasts to have their first taste of international competition without much of the pressure of a senior event,” noted O’Neill of the event organized by the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines and supported by the Office of the President and the Philippine Sports Commission.

Unlike the pressure-cooker conditions of the last world meet, he said that the forthcoming competition, also backed by Newport World Resorts and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, “offers us a lot of more options to do fun things in terms of media and other activities.”

“When we’re there, it will allow us to be a bit more creative in what we can do,” he added of the tournament that has Manila Marriott Hotel, Hotel Okura Manila, Belmont Hotel, Hilton Manila Newport World, Savoy Hotel Manila, Belmont Hotel and Holiday Inn Express as official accommodations.

“You have an original venue we are not used to. It would be interesting to see how that shapes up,” O’Neil said of the performing arena located inside a hotel at the premier gaming, entertainment, shopping and leisure hub of the event backed also by Milo and the Pasay City government.

FIG Communications Head Paul O’Neil