WDSF Grand Slam Chengdu China 3rd July 2011

2011 WDSF Grand Slam Chengdu, China 09/07/2011

3^rd July 2011. 

Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province; it is located on the South Western part of China. It has a population of approximately 10.4 million inhabitants. The China Daily voted Chengdu as the 4^th most livable City in China. The Climate is sub tropical with temperatures averaging around 5.6 ° C (42 °F) in January and July about 25° C (77° F).   Chengdu is a historical city and home to China ‘s living treasure, the Giant Pandas. Eighty per cent of the World Giant Pandas are found in the Wolong Panda Sanctuary. In the suburbs of Chengdu is the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

Two hours South of Chengdu City is the Leshan Stone Buddha carved out from a stone hill overlooking the confluence of three treacherous rivers. The sitting Buddha measures 71 meters (233 feet) tall and the shoulder is 28 meters (92 feet) wide. It is in the UNESCO Natural and Cultural Heritage list since 1996. Glancing through the several tourist brochures, the Giant Pandas are the iconic symbol of the Szechuan Basin and Chengdu.
The World Grand Slam Standard and Latin Chengdu is held at the sprawling Shuangliu Sports Centre. The Stadium manager informed me that all-important indoor sporting events in Szechuan are held here.
Since 2009 when the then IDSF Grand Slam Finals in Shanghai where the new judging system was first introduced, there were worried faces, fearing that the New Judging System may not live up to its expectations.  This time Japan DanceSport Federation, Senior Executive Director Atsushi Yamada San was visibly more relaxed and I even had the pleasure of being introduced to Hitomi Yamada, the spouse of Atsushi at the Giant Panda Breeding Sanctuary.

Prior to the start of the Grand Slam Finals, the Sports Director Marco Sietas ran through the New Judging system with the adjudicators. He reminded that the athlete’s reputation and popularity are not to be considered at all. They are judged by their performance on the day.  That is in line with the spirit of fair play and the values espoused in Olympism. By looking at the results you can immediately tell that previous champions of the Grand Slam season this year does not guarantee you a win in the next Grand Slam competition.
The hugely popular couple that won the hearts of the crowd in the Standard event is Sergey and Olga Konovaltsev from Russia. When it came to the Quickstep, the crowd literally went wild when the couple takes flight, earning them the reputation “Air Konovaltsev”.
Emanuel Valeri and Tania Kehlet took first place winning all the events with 237.50 points, followed by Simone Segatori and Annette Sudol with 232.78 points and in 3^rd placing Sergye and Olga Konovaltsev with 229.06 points.  In the Latin American segment Aniello Langella and Khrystyna Moshenska from Italy came out champions with 234.61 points followed by Zoran Plohl and Tatsiana Lahvinovich from Croatia with 229.11. Martino Zanibelato and Michele Abiltrup from Denmark 225.33 points.

The couple that caught the hearts of the audience is the lanky Vladimir Karpov and Maria Tzaptashvilli from Russia. Valdimir vowed the audience with the moonwalk in his Jive choreography. The other couple worthy of mention is Yury Simachev and Anatasia Klokotova from Russia. This couple competed at the preliminary rounds and work their way to the finals at 6^th placing. Yury, true to his bubbly spirit did 5 flips on the dance floor before he went into the Jive routine at the farewell dance.
The traditional victory dance by the champion was done away with and the announcer invited the finalist to the floor to give their farewell dance for the evening in both the Standard and Latin American. Indeed this is the right move because all of them are indeed champions.
The General Secretary of the WDSF Mr. Shawn Tay, who was the English compere, appears satisfied that all went well. Mr. Carlos Freitag made an announcement that Shanghai, Beijing and now Chengdu will be the major DanceSport centers in China.

For more pics go to :http://www.flickr.com/photos/slave_princess/collections/72157627034826087/
 

Chengdu Grand Slam  Standard
1.        Emanuel Valeri  - Tania Kehlet	DEN
2.        Simone Segatori –Annette Sudol	GER
3.        Sergey Konovaltsev – Olga Konovaltsev	RUS
4.        Zharkov Dimitri  - Olga Kulikova	RUS
5.        Moshenin Evgeny – Genny Favero	ITA
6.        Alexy Glukhov –Anastasia Glazunova	RUS
Chengdu Grand Slam Latin
1.        Aniello Langella – Khrystyna Moshenska	ITA
2.        Zoran Plohl – Tasiana Lahvinovich	CRO
3.        Martino Zanibelato – Michele Abiltrup	DEN
4.        V;adimir Karpov – Maria Tzaptashvilli	RUS
5.        Andre Kiselev – Anastasia Selivanova	RUS
6.        Yury Simachev Anastasia Klokotova	RUS

Report and photos by John Fam

Member WDSF Communication Commission, Asia and Oceania

Olympic miss!

The Way Is The Goal! 12/07/2011


INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE

The President of the World DanceSport Federation reflects on future strategy after DanceSport failed to make the shortlist of candidate sports for the programme of the 2020 Olympics.

Dear Friends of DanceSport!
The decisions taken last week by the leaders and custodians of the Olympic Movement left some in cheers … and others in tears. I am writing these lines after having read an interview with Dr Thomas Bach, the IOC Vice-President from Germany and one of the driving forces behind Munich’s bid for the 2018 Winter Games. These games were awarded to PyeongChang, South Korea, in a clear vote by the 123rd IOC Session in Durban, South Africa, on 6 July.

"We came into this competition to win, like athletes enter into a competition to win, and therefore it is a disappointing result," Bach commented the landslide outcome of the vote. "But in sport and as an athlete you learn that defeat is not the end of everything," the former fencing champion then continued in the interview. I, for one, am thoroughly convinced that Munich will submit another bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

DanceSport lost out in Durban too. On 5 July, the IOC Executive Board did not select it on the shortlist of eight candidate sports for the XXXIII Games of the Olympiad in 2020. Obviously, WDSF is disappointed that the out in its current campaign for inclusion in the sports programme came as early as round one. Yes, we would have liked to get the chance to continue until 2013. To make our case even stronger, to prove that DanceSport is perfectly able to add value to the Olympics! This is what the eight candidate sports now need to do until the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, will decide which new sport, if any, gets admitted to the programme.

WDSF congratulates the International Federations that govern these sports for making the shortlist already. Well done! And WDSF wishes all of them the best of luck for what remains to be done between now and 2013. May the best sport win!

At the same time, WDSF should seize the opportunity and run right along as well. Not for the stakes in 2020 or 2024 – but for its own future. Call it training if you wish, or a workout to keep in shape, but run we should! Complacency does not get us anywhere. Nor does isolation!

DanceSport has come a long way since 2005, when the review process of the Olympic sports programme started to take shape in earnest. WDSF firmly believes that the periodic reviews conducted by the IOC Sports Department are the best way of keeping the Olympics up-to-date, are far superior to the status quo of sports governing bodies lobbying those who take the decisions. These reviews encourage IFs to keep on their toes and continually improve their sports based on analysis and feedback from the experts. Their input allows us and another 20+ sports to make further adjustments, to fine-tune our product as well as the proposal.

“The way is the goal!” must be our guiding principle when it comes to our Olympic ambitions. It has worked well for us so far. What was achieved by IDSF/WDSF over the past five years is the testimony. Would we have been inspired enough to bring about the significant changes we did without an ambitious and elusive goal?

Yes, DanceSport must continue on its Olympic quest, taking it as seriously as ever, because through it come further improvements that will benefit our sport as well as the athletes.

Let us take it all in a sporting spirit! Seven of shortlisted sports feature in The World Games 2013 Cali, COL. DanceSport accepts the challenge to repeat its performance of 2009 Kaohsiung, TPE, where it generated by far more revenues from the gate than any of the seven. Or convince once more in the Asian Games. We shall try! The way is the goal, and the next cycle for the review of the Olympic Programme starts now – for WDSF!

Carlos Freitag

WDSF President