Gymnastics-Liverpool to bid for 2030 world championship

LONDON (Reuters) -Liverpool will bid to host the 2030 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships after successfully staging the event in 2022, British Gymnastics confirmed on Wednesday.

Britain has become a force in world gymnastics, winning at least two medals at each of the last four Olympics, and bid leaders say it would continue the sport’s growth.

“The opportunity for any gymnast to compete in front of a passionate home crowd is something really special, and we’d love for our British team to be able to experience that in 2030 as part of their build up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympics – there could not be a better host city for it than Liverpool,” said Sarah Powell, Chief Executive of British Gymnastics.

“We have seen with the women’s Rugby World Cup and the football Euros that hosting major events can harness the nation’s passion and be a catalyst for greater impact.”

The bid, again centred on the 11,000-seat Liverpool Arena on the banks of the River Mersey, is being supported by UK Sport in conjunction with British Gymnastics and Liverpool City Council.

A decision on the host country will be made in May 2026.

Britain hosted the world championships in 1993 (Birmingham), 2009 (London), 2015 (Glasgow) and in 2022.

This year’s world championships are being staged in Jakarta, Indonesia. 

(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)