Rythmic Gymnasts Gear up for 2012

The 2006 British Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships held at the Fenton Manor Sports Complex in Stoke-on Trent, over the weekend 17-18 November 2006, marked a new stage of the development of this Olympic discipline in the country, as the sport targets medal success at the 2012 Olympics.

Qualification

Qualification for Beijing in 2008, is based on the results of the 2007 World Championships held in Patras, Greece 19-23 Septemper.

The 96 places (24 individual and 12 groups of 6) will be awarded as follows:

Individual places will be awarded as follows:

• 20 best gymnasts in the World Championships
• 3 places granted by FIG Executive Commitee to ensure participation of the Host Nation and each continent
• 1 invitational place

Group places will be awarded as follows:

• 10 best groups in the World Championships
• 2 places granted by FIG Executive Commitee to ensure participation of the Host Nation and at least 3 continents

Form

Great Britain has no pedigree in Rhythmic Gymnastics. Future Olympic hopefuls will be trained at the British Gymnastics Rhythmic Training Academy that has been set up with funding in support of the London 2012 agenda.

What to watch

The girls are very keen to see some of the Rhythmic Gymnastics competition as part of their Olympic Experience. We will need to look carefully at the timetable as the competition is held during the final few days of Games.