Aerobic gymnastics

The National Aerobic Championships is a competition of aerobic gymnastics started in 1984 in the United States. Founded by Sport Fitness International, it was the first major championships in the sport predating the Aerobic Gymnastics World Championships by 11 years. From 1988 onwards the individual events were separated by gender. The sport became popular around the world after it gained popularity in the US when major championships were aired on ESPN during the height of the fitness movement in the US. In recent years, the sport has experienced growth in Eastern Europe, China, Argentina, Mexico, Canada and Australia among other countries but has not grown significantly in the US as the creators of the sport in the USA struggled to transition the focus from fitness to gymnastics. As other countries have blended successfully with their gymnastic federations, the US, where the sport was created, has not been as successful in making that transition. The USAG does not officially acknowledge the sport as a gymnastic discipline even though the international governing body, the FIG, does so.

The competitive aerobic gymnastics are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). The FIG designs the Code of Points and regulates all aspects of international elite competition. Within individual countries, gymnastics is regulated by national federations. In 1995, the FIG recognised sport aerobics as a new competitive gymnastics discipline, organised judges and coaches courses and launched the 1st Aerobic Gymnastics World Championships in Paris (34 countries). In 1997, the IWGA (International World Games Association) included Aerobic Gymnastics in its programme of the 5th World Games (Lahti, Finland).[1] Since 1999 The European Union of Gymnastics has been conducting Aerobic European Gymnastics Championships in all uneven years.[2] Leading nations who have provided World Medallists are: Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Romania, Russia and Spain.[1]

The Federation of International Sports, Aerobics and Fitness (FISAF) is an international non-profit "umbrella organization" active in over 40 countries. It is self-described as "the largest fitness industry organisation in the world" and "the largest instructor certification agency in the world".