Minister of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan, European Gymnastics President, Farid Gayibov has appealed to athletes, News.az reports.

"Dear Gymnastics Family,

Every year is followed by another one, leaving traces in our lives.

We were lucky to be able to sum up 2023 at its full extent. The year was saturated with remarkable events. We experienced many good and positive things together. The most important factor is that we are obviously progressing.

I would like to express my gratitude to all the Executive Committee and Technical Committee members, affiliated Federations of European Gymnastics for their fabulous joint work.

Once again, I was convinced that we could work together in an efficient way. The last Congress was another proof of it. We achieved success in many aspects. And this urges us to move further for new accomplishments. We have many promising plans ahead, especially, this year.

2024 promises to be full of new interesting turns in the sports career of each gymnast as this is the Olympic year.

There can be no progress without innovation. And we already have one for 2024. We made a decision to host the European Cups. We are starting with Rhythmic Gymnastics. The first European Cup planned to be held in Baku (AZE), will be some kind of Test Event for a format which will gradually be developed.

It is easier to achieve your goals when you see them clearly.

We all know what we would like to achieve. And, now, when all of us had enjoyed the New Year holidays, we return to work refreshed, full of new energy and open mind to see what we could miss last year.

Happy New Year, dear family members.

I hope the 2024 would be very successful for the entire European Gymnastics family.

Let’s make Gymnastics attractive for those who didn’t fall in love with it yet," the address reads.