Russia Claims Historic Gymnastics Gold; Britain Bids for 2015 Worlds

(ATR) Russia has its first-ever team gold at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

The six-member squad edged reigning champions USA for the title by just 0.201 points. The 2008 Olympic champions China took bronze.

It was Russia's first gold in the team all-around event since the fall of the Soviet Union; its last gold at a world champs was in 1991.

Aliya Mustafina, 16, shined on the uneven bars and balance beam and put in good performances on the other two apparatus. Her teammates were not flawless, but the USA's errors helped Russia's cause.

Mustafina has the highest individual aggregate score and is favorite for the women's all around title Friday.

China and Japan will tussle for gold in the men's team final, under way later Thursday.

Medals in all-around finals are up for grabs Friday at the world championships that are taking place at Rotterdam's Ahoy Arena. Individual event finals - four apparatus for women, six for men - are scheduled on Saturday and Sunday.

Judging System Success

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has hailed the success of the "reference judges" at the Oct. 16-24 competition. In May 2010, the FIG Council approved their introduction, part of reforms spearheaded by FIG president Bruno Grandi in his bid to eradicate injustice and dishonesty from judging.

For each apparatus, two reference judges evaluate the execution score in addition to the five regular execution judges. The average score of the reference judges is compared with that of the regular execution judges. If the two scores differ too widely from what is authorized by the rules, the two scores are averaged to determine the gymnast's final execution scores.

The system was brought in following positive pilot in 2009 and in the spring of 2010. Reference judges will now be progressively introduced into other events on the FIG program.

Spidercam Thrills TV Audiences

In other gymnastic innovations at the Rotterdam worlds, a remote camera system is being used to deliver thrilling broadcast images from new angles to the competition's global television audience.

The "spidercam", an important part of broadcasting the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Germany,was tested over four days of podium training at the Ahoy Arena.

The success of the test in conjunction with feedback from coaches and gymnasts led to FIG's decision to go ahead with the nearly 50lbs camera. Attached to four Kevlar ropes high up over the field of play, it captures unique angles of the action.

British Gymnastics Bids for 2015 Worlds

British Gymnastics submitted a bid Thursday for the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

The plan is to stage the event in Glasgow at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) that will open in 2013. It would be a major test event for the venue that is hosting the gymnastics competition at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Jane Allen, CEO of British Gymnastics, said: "This is an outstanding bid with both sport and government working together to secure this prestigious event for Glasgow.

"British Gymnastics is proud to be able to present such a high standard bid to the FIG and is confident that it will be received well by the FIG president Bruno Grandi and the FIG Council who will vote on the 2015 Host City in May 2011."

The bid team has already begun its campaign at the championships in Rotterdam. On Thursday, it hosted a ‘Scottish-themed’ reception for FIG leaders and gymnastics officials from each of the 70 competing countries.

Written in Rotterdam by Mark Bisson.