European Championships 1999 in Wheelchair Dance Sport

For the first time in the history of Wheelchair Dance Sport, Regional Championships were organized with the sport recognized as an official IPC Sport. The 7th European Championships took place on October 1 and 2 1999 in Athens, Greece.

It was an honor for Greece to host an IPC/EPC competition in the historical city of Athens, which is also the Olympic and Paralympic City 2004. In the opening ceremony, the president of the European Paralympic Committee (EPC), Hans Lindström, very much appreciated and recognized the hard work of the Organizing Committee with its President Ioanna Kariofilli and the Panhellenic Sports Federation for People with Disabilities with Elias Margiolas, Aris Pananos, Dina Sotiriadis and Takis Papaconstantopoulos. They all contributed to making this event a great success.

Despite the scaring earthquake in Athens just a few weeks before, 29 dance couples from nine nations (Belarus, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia) participated in the two sections "Standard Dances" and "Latin American Dances" with two classes each.

After the opening ceremony with official speeches and typical Greek Folk Dances the competition was opened with the "Standard Dances" (Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Slow Foxtrot, Quickstep) section. The Polish dancers Marta Sihorska - Grzegorz Gorniak and Aleksandra Grzeniewska - Grzegorz Zuchowski won the gold and silver medals respectively and Elena Lozko - Dimitri Poliakow from Russia were ranked third in Class 1. In Class 2, Barbara van Woerkens - Joost Martens, Netherlands, Sandra Ruytenberg - Ed van der Vall, Netherlands and Hanna Zhukava - Roman Krasko, Belarus were placed in the medal ranks competing in a field of 13 couples. On October 2 the section "Latin American Dances" (Samba, Cha-Cha-Cha, Rumba, Paso doble, Jive) followed. In Class 1, the same couples as in the "Standard Dances" won the medals. In Class 2, Barbara van Woerkens - Joost Martens, Netherlands, Hanna Zhukava - Roman Krasko, Belarus and Sandra Ruytenberg - Ed van der Vall, Netherlands could dance their way to the first three ranks.

The dance couples of all countries gave their best. It was the highest level ever registered at any Regional or World Championships in Wheelchair Dance Sport. Many thanks to all athletes and organizers for that successful event!

Dr. Gertrude Krombholz

Wheelchair Dance Sport Chairperson Profile

Dr. Gertrude Krombholz, Germany

"Krombine" - as Dr. Gertrude Krombholz is known to her dancers and friends - is one of the founders of the very successful and rather new IPC Wheelchair Dance Sport. She has been the chairperson of the IPC Wheelchair Dance Sport Committee since 1989.

The idea of combining wheelchair dancers with able-bodied ones was created when Krombholz was asked to choreograph the closing of a big German sporting event for about 1,000 participants of 21 sports in 1973. One of the sports was wheelchair basketball. Krombholz was thus faced with the task of integrating 16 wheelchair athletes into the choreography. Not having done anything like that before she saw the solution in rhythmic movements to music. This was her inspiration to further develop Wheelchair Dancing and wheelchair Dance Sport.

Although dancing for people in wheelchairs was already known and practiced for rehabilitation and recreational purposes, Krombholz made it her task to set up the whole structure of International Wheelchair Dance Sport, with international rules and regulations, seminars for coaches, advanced training for adjudicators, classifiers etc. The first international competition in Wheelchair Dance took place in Sweden, the first World Championships were organized in Japan in 1998.

Gertrude was the Leading Academic Director of the Department of Physical Education and Sport of the Technical University München, Germany. She retired in 1998 after being a Professor of Sport and Dance for 42 years.

One of her and her colleagues’ aims was reached when in 1997 Wheelchair Dance Sport was officially recognized as a Paralympic Sport. "But this is only one aim fulfilled"; says Krombholz. The Wheelchair Dance Sport Committee would like to gain more and more countries for their movement – be it at recreational or competitive level. They also aim at the inclusion of Wheelchair Dance Sport in the Paralympic Winter Games 2002.

Today, thanks to Dr. Gertrude Krombholz and her many colleagues, supporters and friends, more than 5,000 dancers (4,000 wheelchair users and 1,500 non-disabled partners) practice Wheelchair Dance on both a recreational or competitive level in more than 40 countries.

The IPC Wheelchair Dance Sport Committee:

• Nobuko Yotsumoto (Vice-Chairperson), Japan
• Corrie van Hugten (Technical Officer), Netherlands
• Lucienne Swinnen (Treasurer and Management Officer), Belgium
• Grethe Andersen (Member at Large), Norway
• Juha-Pekka Maijala (Member at Large), Finland
• Dr. Hans Brunner (Athletes Representative), Germany
• Dr.Markus Zimmer (Medical Officer), Germany
• Ondine de Hullu (Classification Officer), Netherlands