New WDSF President

November 22, 2018 - After WDSF President Lukas Hinder announced his resignation to bring the constituent parties closer together in how they interpret dance as sport at the 2018 Annual General Meeting on 17 June in Lausanne with a transitional period of five months, an official handover ceremony was held during the 2018 WDSF World Championship Standard in Vienna, Austria, on 17 November 2018.

Mr. Hinder transferred the President’s gavel as a symbol for the President of the World DanceSport Federation to Mr. Shawn Tay, who has previously served WDSF in roles of General Secretary, First Vice-President, and the Vice-President for Sports during a period of 21 years.

Mr. Shawn Tay from Singapore assumed the office of WDSF President according to Article 16(2) of the Statutes. Under the Statutes the next quadrennial presidential elections are scheduled for 2021, but Mr. Tay had already at 2018 Annual General Meeting made a commitment to stand for election at the 2019 WDSF AGM to ask WDSF Member Bodies to confirm his mandate to 2021.

In his speech the newly declared WDSF President Mr. Tay emphasized his commitment to DanceSport with its multiple disciplines and thanked the Presidium and his family for support. Mr Tay also spoke about his vision and innovative changes that will bring DanceSport disciplines games-ready for the IOC, as well as improvements for athletes via better competitions and effective competition formats.

At the official handover ceremony Mr. Hinder was officially named the Honorary Life President for WDSF for his outstanding services for the World DanceSport Federation. For over two decades, Mr. Hinder was a member of the WDSF Presidium and served the organization in the roles of Treasurer and 1st Vice-President (2007-2016) before assuming the presidency in 2016.

During the presidency of Mr. Lukas Hinder DanceSport made its Olympic debut at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires (ARG). Mr. Hinder is currently the Treasurer and Member of the Executive Committee of the International World Games Association (IWGA), he will continue to serve the IWGA will the full support of the WDSF Presidium.

25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only