Greek Olympic medalist in artistic gymnastics Eleftherios Petrounias holds the Tokyo Olympic Flame at the Panathenaic stadium, in Athens, Greece, on March 19, 2020. (Xinhua/Aris Messinis)
Qualification events to decide the remaining participants for gymnastics at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be re-scheduled once social distancing regulations are eased.
GENEVA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- 75 percent of the 324 places for gymnastics at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games have been allocated, and qualification events to decide the remaining participants will be re-scheduled once social distancing regulations are eased, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) said here on Friday.
The FIG executive committee held a video conference on Thursday to discuss major issues raised by the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games to July 2021.
In the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the International Olympic Committee extended the Tokyo Olympics' qualification period until 29 June 2021, giving a larger window for the completion of the qualification process.
While almost 75 percent of the 324 Olympic places in gymnastics have already been allocated, the remaining qualifying events, which had been planned to take place between mid-March and the end of May 2020, were disrupted by the pandemic.
Ariake Gymnastics Center, one of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games venues, is under construction in Tokyo, Japan, on Feb. 12, 2019. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
The Apparatus World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan had to be stopped on March 13 before the competition had been completed. The executive committee decided that the results of the qualification stage must be considered as the final rankings, with points to be awarded accordingly.
All remaining gymnastics qualifying World Cups and continental championships that were not run as originally expected will be re-scheduled once the current restrictions on travel and group gatherings are eased.
Athletes or National Olympic Committees who have already confirmed their places at the 2020 Olympic Games will compete as planned. ■