GREENSBORO, N.C., June 24, 2015 – USA Gymnastics has awarded the 2016 USA Gymnastics Championships, which showcases more than 1,800 of the country’s best gymnasts in acrobatic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, and trampoline and tumbling, to Providence, R.I. Scheduled for June 8-13, Junior Olympic competition will be staged at the Rhode Island Convention Center for the entire six days. The junior and senior elite competition will be held at Dunkin’ Donuts Center from June 10-12. If the United States qualifies for the 2016 Olympic Games for rhythmic gymnastics and/or trampoline, the USA Gymnastics Championships will be part of the Olympic selection for those two disciplines.



“USA Gymnastics is excited to bring one of our premier events to Providence and the state of Rhode Island,” said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. “The three disciplines competing in the USA Gymnastics Championships provide a wide variety of action and excitement, from the beauty and grace of rhythmic gymnastics to the dynamics of acro to the high-flying routines of trampoline.”



The local event partners are the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority and the Rhode Island Sports Commission.



“To host such a prestigious and dynamic sporting event is a true honor. It will be our pleasure to welcome talented young athletes of this caliber, their families, and fans to Rhode Island,” said John Gibbons, executive director of the Rhode Island Sports Commission (RISC). “The people of Rhode Island will welcome them with open arms as they – hopefully – journey on the road to the 2016 Olympic Games.”



For the junior and senior elite levels for each discipline, the athletes will be vying for national titles. Performances will determine berths on the junior and senior U.S. National Teams for rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline and tumbling. In addition, the USA has the opportunity to qualify for the Olympic Games in rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline at the respective World Championships this fall and again at the Olympic Test event in the spring. Should the United States be successful in earning a berth to the Olympics, the USA Gymnastics Championships will be part of the selection process to identify the U.S. athletes who will compete in the Olympic Games. The selection process for those two disciplines is currently in the approval stage.



The Junior Olympic division has several different levels, and national titles will be awarded for each level and age group for each discipline.



The schedule will be available this fall and tickets will go on sale in 2016. The USA Gymnastics was first held in 2014 at the KFC Yum! Center and the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, Ky., and in 2015 at the Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum Complex. For more information on the USA Gymnastics Championships, please go to usagymchamps.com.



Acrobatic gymnastics combines the beauty of dance with the strength and agility of acrobatics. Routines are choreographed to music and consist of dance, tumbling, and partner skills. At the elite level, each pair or group performs a balance, dynamic and combined routine. Pyramids and partner holds characterize the balance routine, while synchronized tumbling and intricate flight elements define the dynamic exercise. An acrobatic gymnastics pair consists of a base and a top. A women’s group is comprised of three athletes – a base, middle and top partner – while a men’s group has four athletes, a base, two middle partners and one top partner.



Rhythmic gymnastics is characterized by grace, beauty and elegance combined with dance and acrobatic elements, while working with ribbons, balls, hoops, ropes and clubs in a choreographed routine to music. The choreography must cover the entire floor and contain a balance of jumps, leaps, pivots, balances and flexibility movements. Only four of the apparatus are competed each quad, and the four for 2016 are hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon. Each movement involves a high degree of athletic skill. Physical abilities needed by a rhythmic gymnast include strength, power, flexibility, agility, dexterity, endurance and hand-eye coordination.



Trampoline events involve athletes using trampolines that can propel them up to 30 feet in the air, during which they can perform double and triple twisting somersaults. Tumbling utilizes elevated rod-floor runways that enable athletes to jump at heights more than 10 feet and execute a variety of acrobatic maneuvers. For the double-mini competition, the athlete makes a short run, leaps onto a small two-level trampoline, performs an aerial maneuver and dismounts onto a landing mat. Trampoline was added to the Olympic Games in 2000, and at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, the USA had its first athlete in history advance to the finals.



Background information

• Rhode Island Sports Commission. The Rhode Island Sports Commission is a division of the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau whose mission is to enrich the Rhode Island economy and community through the attraction, promotion and development of sporting events and associated meetings. For more information, visit GoSportsRI.com.

• Rhode Island Convention Center Authority. Located in the heart of downtown Providence, the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority operates the Rhode Island Convention & Entertainment Complex, which includes the Rhode Island Convention Center (RICC), two parking garages, Dunkin’ Donuts Center (DDC), and Veterans Memorial Auditorium (The Vets). The Authority, governed by an eleven-member board of commissioners, works with several marketing partners to book its facilities, including SMG, which manages the DDC and RICC, Professional Facilities Management (PFM), which manages The Vets, and the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau (PWCVB).