Gymmin' Miel!

Ilaria Kaeslin is set to make her Senior debut. (Image courtesy of NKL - see here)

The 29th edition of the Arturo Gander Memorial is set to be held on the 31st of October at the Palapenz di Chiasso in Chiasso, Switzerland. This competition is held annually, with it being alternated between Morges and Chiasso. This year however, sees the Arturo Gander Memorial take on a brand new format. A total of 10 Men's Artistic Gymnasts and 10 Women's Artistic Gymnasts are hoped to participate. For the MAG participants, Rounds 1-4 will see all MAG gymnasts compete on a single apparatus each round, of which they choose. For the Women, Rounds  1-2 sees all Gymnasts take part, competing on a single apparatus each round, and as with the Men, the apparatus they compete on is their choice. Round 4 for the Men and Round 3 for the Women is the Finale round, and sees the top six gymnasts from the Qualification rounds (after the total of the apparatus scores have been worked out) compete on one final apparatus of their choosing. The Winner of the competition will be the MAG and WAG Gymnasts who have the highest All Around scores (calculated from the total of the scores from all 4 Rounds for the Men and 3 Rounds for the Women). 

According to the official site (see: http://www.memorialgander.ch/) gymnasts from Belarus, Brazil, Germany,  Great Britain, Italy, Korea, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, and Ukraine are set to participate. The following gymnasts have been announced: The lists below have now been finalized. 

WOMEN'S ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS:

MEN'S ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS:

• Andrey Likhovitskiy (BLR)
• Arthur Nabarrete Zanetti (BRA)
• Sam Oldham (GBR)
• Marcel Nguyen (GER)
• Paolo Ottavi (ITA)
• Yang-Hak Seon (KOR)
• Igor Pakhomenko (RUS)
• Claudio Capelli  Pablo Braegger (SUI)
• Oleg Stepko (UKR)

The 27th edition of the Memorial Arturo Gander will take place on the 27th October. This annual competition which alternates between Morges and Chiasso, will this year held in Chiasso.

This sums up part of Gander's contribution to the sport of gymnastics, for the rest check out the official website:

Without doubt Arturo Gander is one of the few, if not rare people, who ranged over the total movement of the "ars gymnastica" of his time, with actions which were futuristic for the movement. It is inevitable that only a few citations can be made: from his native Brienz he went first to Chippis in Valais; preceded by his fame as an extremely competent instructor (at home and abroad) he arrived in Chiasso at the end of the thirties, where the local gymnastic directors and politicians of the time were clairvoyant, far-sighted and also "lucky"; he became a gym teacher in the schools and instructor in the Federal Gymnastics Society.

The competition lines up ten men and ten women. The men compete on four events of their choice, whilst the women select three apparatus to perform on, with their scores carrying on to the final. This year boasts a fantastic roster of gymnasts:

MEN'S ARTISTIC GYMNASTS:

• Daniel Corral Barron (MEX)
• Niki Boschenstein (SUI)
• Yann Cucherat (FRA)
• Fabian Hambuechen (GER)
• HUANG Yuguo (CHN)
  
• Jordan Jovtchev (BUL)
• Flavius Koczi (ROU)
• Mykola Kuksenkov (UKR)
• Timothy McNeill (USA)
• Matteo Morandi (ITA)
• Sergio Munoz (ESP)
• Mark Ramseier (SUI)
• Kristian Thomas (GBR)
• ZOU Kai (CHN)
• Epke Zonderland (NED)

WOMEN'S ARTISTIC GYMNASTS:

• Rose-Eliandre Bellemare (FRA)
• Diana Maria Chelaru (ROU)
• Rebecca Downie (GBR)
• Vanessa Ferrari (ITA)
• Elsa Garcia Rodriguez Blancas (MEX)
• Lisa Katharina Hill (GER)
• Marie-Sophie Hindermann (GER)
• Ariella Kaeslin (SUI)
• Angelina Kysla (UKR)
• Elisabeth Seitz (GER)
• Bridget Sloan OR Rebecca Bross (USA)
• Wyomi Masela (NED)
• ZHANG Yelinzi (CHN)