Guiyang artistic gymnastics event kicks off

On the afternoon of July 13, the Guiyang Youth Artistic Gymnastics Championships kicked off at the Guomao Jiufu City Lifestyle Shopping Center in Guanshanhu district, Guiyang.

The competition featured athletes between the ages of six and 13, divided into A, B, and C groups for individual and team events, giving them the perfect opportunity to showcase their skills.

Described as "ballet on a mat", artistic gymnastics integrates elements of music, dance, and light apparatus into a sports discipline. It challenges athletes not only in terms of flexibility, strength, coordination, and agility but also in rhythm, elegance, and expressiveness on the competition floor.

Chen Lin, senior coach of artistic gymnastics at the Guizhou Gymnastics Development Center and an international-level judge, said that this is the first time an artistic gymnastics competition has been held in a shopping center in Guiyang. This initiative not only attracted foot traffic to the shopping center but also effectively promoted the sport of artistic gymnastics.

The event was aimed at promoting the creation of model cities for nationwide sports and fitness and fostering integration between sports, commerce, culture, and tourism.