World Gymnaestrada

Mass routines at the 1949 Lingiad in Stockholm
World Gymnaestrada 2011, Lausanne

The World Gymnaestrada is the largest general gymnastics exhibition. It is held every four years much like the Olympics. But the focus of this event is not on winning medals. The Gymnaestrada is about Group Performances – some with hundreds or even thousands of participants. Adults and children of every age and description perform. Countries from around the world come together to showcase their talent and the culture of their various countries. The choreography is designed both to challenge the participants and to delight audiences. Routines are performed at various venues within the host country. Large group routines are known as "mass routines" which involve hundreds of gymnasts. The mass routines are often performed in large stadiums where spectators can take in routines performed by gymnasts from all over the world.

The World Gymnaestrada is the successor to the two Lingiads that were held in Stockholm in 1939 (100 years after Pehr Henrik Ling's death) and 1949.

The name Gymnaestrada is formed from the words gymnastik (international name for all sports relating to gymnastics), estrada (stage) and strada (street). It is believed to have been invented by J H Sommer, chairman of the Royal Dutch Gymnastics Federation and Mrs J. v.d.Most-Leyerweert, member of the board of DGF. They submitted their request for an international meet at the 1951 FIG conference.[1]

Host cities

Edition Date City Country Participating
federations[2]		 Gymnasts[2]
I 1953 Rotterdam  Netherlands 14 5,000
II 1957 Zagreb  Yugoslavia 16 6,000
III 26–30 July 1961 Stuttgart  West Germany 16 10,000
IV 20–24 July 1965 Vienna  Austria 28 15,600
V 2–6 July 1969 Basle   Switzerland 29 9,600
VI 1–5 July 1975 Berlin  East Germany 23 10,500
VII 13–17 July 1982 Zurich   Switzerland 23 14,200
VIII 7–11 July 1987 Herning  Denmark 25 17,300
IX 15–20 July 1991 Amsterdam  Netherlands 28 19,500
X 9–15 July 1995 Berlin  Germany 34 19,300
XI 2–10 July 1999 Göteborg  Sweden 39 23,500
XII 20–26 July 2003 Lisbon  Portugal 57 25,000
XIII 8–14 July 2007 Dornbirn  Austria 56[3] 21,000
XIV 10–16 July 2011 Lausanne   Switzerland 55[4] 19,100
XV 12-18 July 2015[5] Helsinki  Finland 55 21,000
XVI 7-13 July 2019 Dornbirn  Austria [6]

World Gymnaestrada 2015

The World Gymnaestrada 2015 was held in Helsinki, Finland, from 12 to 18 July.[5] It was the largest event ever held in Finland in terms of number of participants, surpassing even the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.[7]

The World Gymnaestrada Helsinki 2015 in brief:

Notes and references

See also

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