314212 - The Loss of Open Team World Championships and its Consequences
The new FIG Technical Regulations remove the last of the open-access Team World Championships that previously occurred in the middle of each Olympic cycle. In my opinion, this decision by FIG authorities betrays the member federations who, despite my warnings in April 2022, have only now realized what it means that only 24 teams selected at Continental Championships according with severe FIG mandated quotas may participate. This example leads to a wider investigation and discussion of how the relationship between the FIG and its member federations has changed over the decades and how the federations have allowed their authority over the gymnastics sports to be eroded, and handed ever more control to the FIG.
