130th FIG Anniversary

LAUSANNE (SUI), FIG Office, June 23, 2011: On July 23, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) will celebrate the 130th anniversary of its founding. A ceremony hosted by FIG President Prof. Bruno Grandi will be given in honour of the event on July 15, parallel to the 14th World Gymnaestrada 2011 aboard the Ville de Lausanne on scenic Lake Léman.

To commemorate a great man and in collaboration with the Belgian Gymnastics Federation, the FIG will honour the Federation’s founding father with a bouquet of flowers at the foot of his monument, located in Cupérus’ native Anvers (BEL).

Nicolas Cupérus was a philanthropist at heart and held a vision for gymnastics that was purely educational, a vision which distinguished him from yet another leader in international sport, Pierre de Coubertin, whose perception of sport was competitive. “Movement is paramount to maintaining a state of good health,” a state of mind, a philosophy to which Cupérus would adhere his entire life; the leitmotif remains true to this day.