2008 Olympic all-around champion Nastia Liukin, who was voted the athlete representative for Women’s Artistic gymnastics to the FIG at the 2009 World Championships in London, visited Lausanne, Switzerland, on January 28 for the first meeting of the FIG Athletes’ Commission at the FIG Head Office.
The Commission, which is made up of one representative from each of the FIG’s competitive disciplines: Liukin, Jani Tanskanen of Finland for Men’s Artistic, Vera Sessina of Russia for Rhythmic, Dmitri Poliaroush of Belarus for Trampoline, Anna Macanita of Portugal for Aerobic, and Sabrina Hegele of Germany for Acrobatic, elected Tanskanen the new President for the 2012 Olympic Cycle. The Finnish born Tanskanen will hold a seat on the Executive Board and one on the FIG Council as a representative of the Federation’s athlete body.
Tanskanen is the Director of Men’s Artistic within the Finnish Gymnastics Federation. He was an active, national A list gymnast until 2008. Among his many achievements is a horizontal bar gold medal at the 1997 World Championships in Lausanne.