Gymnastics qualifier cancelled

TOKYO: A Tokyo Olympics gymnastics qualifier next month, which had hoped to feature US superstar Simone Biles among its participants, was cancelled Wednesday as the coronavirus pandemic continued to cast a shadow over this year’s Games.

The Japan Gymnastics Association announced the scrapping of the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Tokyo on April 4-5, an Olympic test event, just a few days after saying it would be held without spectators. Leading gymnasts including four-time Olympic gold medallist Biles, who is expected to be among the stars of Tokyo 2020, had been on the original entry list for the event. A rhythmic gymnastics Olympic test event scheduled for April 6 is still going ahead, according to the Tokyo 2020 organising committee.