Noha Abou Shabana, vice-president of the FIG Technical Committee said holding the International Judges' Courses of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) in Baku is very important for the entire Rhythmic Gymnastics as a new Olympic cycle is beginning.

“We start training a new generation of judges for the entire cycle for the 2020 Olympics. That is why we want to make sure that the judges have sufficient skills, knowledge and understanding of a new set of rules, as it includes significant changes in favor of gymnasts,” she added.

Abou Shabana added that twenty judges from Azerbaijan participate in this course, while only six judges took part in the last one.

“This is big progress for Azerbaijan and the development of refereeing. They are all young; most of them are former gymnasts, so they understand what athletes need,” she said.

The FIG International Judges’ Courses on Rhythmic Gymnastics kicked off in Baku on January 26 and will last until January 30.

Fifty-eight judges from 17 federations are taking part in the courses.

Trend News Agency, January 26, 2017