Watanabe re-elected as international gymnastics president

Posted November 06, 2021 7:00 am

The Associated Press

ANTALYA, Turkey (AP) - Morinari Watanabe was re-elected to a new three-year term as president of the International Gymnastics Federation on Saturday after seeing off a challenger.

Watanabe, from Japan, won the vote 81 to 47 against Farid Gayibov of Azerbaijan at a conference in Turkey, the federation said.

Watanabe has a background in business and was first elected FIG president in 2016 for a four-year term. That was extended by one year when the coronavirus pandemic caused the Tokyo Olympics to be postponed. His new term is three years so the next elections coincide with the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Gayibov is the president of gymnastics' European governing body and the minister of youth and sports in the Azerbaijan government.

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