IOC Gives Flying Disc a Whirl -- Federations Focus

(ATR)Support for the World Flying Disc Federation will be "galvanized" after the IOC’s decision to recognize the federation last week in Malaysia.

The WFDF became the 35th IOC recognized federation at the recent IOC Session, something federation president Robert "Nob" Rauch tells Around the Rings will help flying disc toward its goals.

"This really is something that supports these two key areas two key areas for us by giving us A, visibility and B, credibility to be able to do a better job at these core elements of our mission," said Rauch.

Rauch says the long-term goal, like that of a lot of recognized federations, is to join the Olympic program.

"We think we have an exciting sports, especially in the context of Agenda 2020. We offer an awful lot of what they’re looking for."

The sport could offer something new to the Olympics: a mixed gender team sport.

"The featured format for play for us at the World Games has been the mixed gender division. We find that in a lot of emerging countries around the world that's the most successful format for play because it gives the local organizers an instant social aspect to play and sort of gets the critical mass together a lot more quickly."

Gymnastics Championships Set Participation Record

The 2015 FIG World Gymnastics Championships will feature 615 gymnasts from 91 countries. These athletes will meet in Glasgow, Scotland from October 23 to November 1.

The International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG) says this sets a record for both athletes and countries participating in the event. The Cayman Islands and Honduras are taking part in the event for this first time this year.

The championships will offer gymnasts opportunities to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics. The top eight teams during qualification rounds for both men and women will advance to the finals while also securing their berth to the Rio Olympics.

Technical committee presidents for FIG are in Glasgow this week to tour venues and attend briefings about the tournament. They are also conducting the draw for the tournament which decides which countries will compete in each subdivision.

Perhaps the most exciting event during the tournament will be the battles for the men and women’s individual all-around title. Kohei Uchimura for the men and Simone Biles for the women will aim to retain their championship titles and set the records for most consecutive championships.

Uchimura has won the event five years in a row while Biles is striving for her third consecutive win.

Roller Sports Leave Legacy on Nanjing

The city of Nanjing presented a legacy report during the IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur following a successful Youth Olympic Games in the city last year.

In the report, the city says roller sports have left a lasting impact on youth in the area. They have several events with the roller sports federation planned over the next four years, including the speed skating championships, inline hockey championships and the roller games.

The next step for roller sports is inclusion in the Tokyo 2020 sports program. The federation president will present to the selection board on August 7.

Written by Nick Devlin and Kevin Nutley

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