The captain of Japan’s Olympic women’s gymnastics team is set to be sent home from Europe after allegations she was caught smoking.
Japan’s Kyodo News said multiple sources had indicated Shoko Miyata will leave the team’s training base in Monaco, where she was preparing for the Paris Olympics, which start next week. Smoking is illegal for anyone under the age of 20 in Japan, and Miyata is 19.
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Miyata appeared to be absent from training on Wednesday and the Japanese Gymnastic Association’s head of development, Hikaru Tanaka, confirmed the athlete had missed the session “for certain reasons”.
Miyata is the reigning Japanese national champion. Although Japan are not considered a challenger for a team medal in Paris, Miyata won bronze on the beam at the 2022 world championships and came fifth in the all-around competition.
Japan’s men’s team won gymnastics gold at the 2016 Olympics, while the women last won a team medal in 1964. Mai Murakami claimed bronze in the floor exercise at the 2020 Games, becoming the first Japanese woman to win an individual artistic gymnastics medal at the Olympics.
Source Agencies
