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Gymnova for the first time on Mount Olympus!
source: http://www.fig-gymnastics.com
London (GBR) / FIG Media Office, August 7, 2012: For many gymnasts, London 2012 is a premiere Olympic experience that is unique, full of emotion and complete with personal history. For the official gymnastics apparatus supplier and exclusive partner of the Organising Committee, Gymnova, London is also an Olympic first.
We met with Gymnova President and CEO Olivier Estèves and General Director Yves Benoît to hear more about the path that led the official FIG supplier to the summit of sport hierarchy.
Remind us if you will of the path taken by Gymnova, the objectives that led you to the Olympic Games in London.
The project has always existed. Gymnova appeared in 1978 and has always stood as a purely gymnastic product. The company was founded by gymnasts! The Olympic dream characterized the company from its beginnings, though in its earlier years the dream seemed completely out of reach.
But we developed our products and began to market them internationally for continental championships in all gymnastic disciplines: Artistic, Rhythmic and Trampoline. As we opened out to new international markets, the dream began to take shape and grow in tangibility and accessibility. The FIG World Championships in Aarhus (DEN) were Gymnova’s first WCs.
Our mission evolves with each new day, but in this Olympic context it was back in 2004 that we set our cap for the 2012 Olympic Games in the knowledge that we had plenty of time to build up enough experience to support our bid before London organizers. It quickly became clear that our participation in the 2009 London worlds would be a stepping stone to the Games.
That same year, we entered into negotiations with LOCOG and engaged in the international bid process. The final decision was taken in March 2010, and a month later we were signing the contract.
Did you consider what impact would be made on your image and sales by concluding with LOCOG?
Once partnership was concluded with LOCOG, a message, a positive feeling, immediately permeated the company and everyone felt that a victory had been won. The market was quick to respond and we began to receive orders for our products worldwide. We took a decisive, strategically important step that led to both greater repute and sales. Numerous federations that lacked Gymnova equipment acquired it so their athletes could train immediately.
The Olympic Games for Gymnova, much like for an athlete, are an objective in and of themselves. For a business it is important to stay in the game for the long term, to position ourselves as a gymnastic point of reference without the pretension of striving for a monopoly. Naturally, we’ll still be present at significant international events, continental and world championships, Olympic Games. In this business nothing is permanent and continual improvement is imperative.
The athletes would agree that it is harder to stay at the top than it is to get there. For us this means more effort and a constant revisiting of where we stand. In a very real sense we are condemned to excellence. We will remain developmentally coherent, bolster production and invest in expertise and imagination.
London in numbers for Gymnova?
Here in London we have equipped 7 complete fields of play for Artistic Gymnastics, 16 Rhythmic mats and 7 trampolines. 30 semi-trailer trucks were needed to transport the equipment to the venues!
From early July, when the work began, until the end of August, a 15-person team continues to alternate daily to carry out maintenance and verify installations. In our team, we ‘re proud to have an Olympic medallist, Eric Poujade, who is working for us for many years. On a side note, each of these individuals is trained to raise the horizontal bar fast enough to rival a Ferrari tire change at the Grand Prix if needed, as foreseen in the FIG rules. But that will not be the case here in London.
One more number: we equipped a podium surface of 4,500 m2 for Gymnastics, but also for Wrestling, Taekwondo, Fencing and Judo.
Our business makes us a natural fit with the world of gymnastics, and we depend on that world. We are immersed in it every day. We have no other objective than to better serve the sport of Gymnastics. Gymnova is active in a small market on which its very existence depends. Our approach is an exception in this world, and we are proud of it.
And here is an creative approach to the gymnastics apparatus from Phoenix Design!
