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40 años de Madrid a Guadalajara / 40 Years From Madrid To Guadalajara
40 Years From Madrid To Guadalajara
[1978 - 2018]
40 years ago, Spain held the very first Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championship, the highest possible European level of competition in this discipline. At the time, Félix Fernández Fernández was President of the Royal Spanish Gymnastics Federation and this championship would take place in the Palacio de Deportes in Madrid.
Just 4 years prior, in 1974, the Spanish Gymnastics Federation created a Spanish National Rhythmic Gymnastics Team and in 1975, the first Spanish Group and Individual Rhythmic Gymnastic Championships were held and also the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championship in Madrid, which was the very first World Rhythmic Gymnastics event ever held in Spain.
Ivanka Tchakarova was the first national team head coach in the history of Rhythmic Gymnastics in Spain, of Bulgarian origin and with a rich experience in sport as a professional in this discipline, she was head of this team between 1974 and 1978. She was a gymnast in the 50´s and once retired, continued working in the sport as a coach and judge, as well as forming part of the FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics Technical Committee, where she would one day become an honorary member.
At present, she is considered one of the driving forces in Bulgarian and Spanish gymnastics and throughout these years, as a head coach, Ivanka worked along side and was supported by coaches Carmen Algora and Teresa de Isla.
Spanish Rhythmic Gymnastics had already participated in an international competition, the first of which being the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championship in 1963, held in Budapest and the second, 10 years later in Rotterdam. However, it would be during the Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championship in 1978 where Spain would make history, winning the first medal ever won by a Spanish gymnast in a general individual event in a Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championship.
The gymnast, Susana Mendizábal, managed to reach the podium to take home the bronze medal. Our gymnast reached a score of 28.05, contested by Galina Shugurova, from the Soviet Union , whose score of 28.95 won the gold and by Irina Deriugina´s silver worthy 28.65 points.
Spain – Madrid - 10th October 1978 - 12th October 1978
Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
1
2 URSS
Bulgaria 4 5 0 9
1 0 2 3
3
Czechoslovakia 0 1 1 2
4
Spain 0 0 1 1
40 years later, why are we holding the 34th event?
This year, Spain will be hosting once again and this time, it is the XXXIV Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championship, under the organisation of the European Union of Gymnastics (UEG) and the Royal Spanish Gymnastics Federation. The Palacio Multiusos in Guadalajara is where the event has been chosen to take place, between the 1st and 3rd June.
If it´s been 40 years since the first European Championship that was held in Madrid in 1978, why is the 34th being held this year? Since its origin and up until 1992, it was held every other year, however, it was then put in motion to take place annually.
We are now in 2018 and the Royal Spanish Gymnastics Federation, under the presidency of Jesús Carballo Martínez, returns to hold one of the most important Rhythmic Gymnastic competitions in the world, where the best gymnasts from 40 countries will compete. A warm welcome to everyone!
All information on this year´s Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championship can be found on the official website: http://www.rgeuro2018.com/
You can also follow all the event news and action across social networks: Facebook and Twitter @ECh-
Guadalajara
Who is Susana Mendizábal?
[Jaca, Huesca, 1962]
Susana Mendizábal is a former Spanish gymnast that competed in both Artistic and Rhythmic Gymnastic disciplines. Susana started her career as a gymnast at the age of 7. She was part of the Spanish National Artistic Team between 1974 and 1975 and part of the Spanish National Rhythmic Team, between 1976 and 1980.
Sporting success summary:
1978 • European Championship in Madrid
Bronze in general competition 4th in rope 4ª in ribbon 7ª in ball
1980 • European Championship in Amsterdam 7th in general competition 4th in ribbon 6th in clubs
Where has her professional career taken her since her retirement from the sport? Well, Susana has not stopped working in and for gymnastics and after leaving the carpet, she has continued developing her professional career in other aspects of the sport.
Licensed in INEF and Dean of the Sports Science Faculty at the University of Castilla-La Mancha from 2005 to 2012, then Director of the Gymnastics Municipal School in Las Rozas, she has made various publications and a doctoral thesis that put to bed a range of negative topics (anorexia, growth problems), which were commonly disputed in those days in Rhythmic Gymnastics. As well as this, she is a member of the Athlete´s Commission in the Spanish Olympic Committee.
In 1995 and 1996, she presented the sports news on channel Telecinco. She was a commentator on gymnastics and artistic ice skating on channel TVE between 1981 and 1993 and rebroadcasted all gymnastic disciplines from the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000, with Paloma del Río constantly by her side.
She has written several books, of which we present a few stand-out ones: - Introduction to rhythmic gymnastics: Freehand, rope and ball (1985) - Introduction to rhythmic gymnastics: hoop, ribbon and clubs (1987) - Rhythmic gymnastics fundamentals: myths and reality (2001)
