Grandi: I won't seek 6th term as gymnastics chief

Published Oct. 29, 2014 8:40 a.m. ET

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TASHKENT, Uzbekistan (AP) Long-time International Gymnastics Federation president Bruno Grandi has announced he will not run for a sixth term.

The 80-year-old Italian made the announcement at a FIG congress Wednesday, meaning a new president will be elected in October 2016.

Grandi says ''I would like to offer encouragement to those who will be taking the gauntlet in the future.''

Grandi was elected in 1996 and re-elected four times. He also served as president of the Italian gymnastics federation from 1977-2000 and briefly as a member of the International Olympic Committee.

As FIG president, Grandi oversaw two of the biggest recent changes in the sport - abandoning the 10.0 scale as part of an overhaul of the scoring system, and raising the minimum age for the Olympics and world championships to 16.