Gymnast Shoko Miyata Sent Home From Olympics For Violating Team Smoking Ban

July 19th, 2024 –  Gymnast Shoko Miyata was sent home from the Paris Olympics after breaking her team’s smoking ban.

Paris Olympics 2024

Japanese gymnast Shoko Miyata was sent home from this year’s Summer Olympics. The 19-year-old, who is also the captain of the Japanese team, broke a team role ten days before this year’s competitions started. The JGA (Japanese Gymnastics Association) has bans on alcohol and smoking. Unfortunately, Miyata broke both bans before completion and was initially sent home as a result.

JGA President Tadashi Fujita issued a statement saying, “We apologize from the bottom of our hearts for this.”.” With her confirmation and after discussions on all sides, it has been decided that she will withdraw from the Olympics,” is what JGA secretary general Kenji Nishimura added confirming the incident.

Gymnastics Paris 2024

Miyata’s coach, Mutsumi Harada, says the gymnast was under a lot of pressure this year representing her country. The reigning national champion spent many of her training days with a heavy burden on her shoulders. Japan has not won a medal in the women’s gymnastics team all-around competition since the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Also, the Summer Olympics have not taken place since 2020. With the pandemic happening and the four-year gap between Olympic seasons, the anticipation of the games finally happening seems to be getting to a lot of the athletes. Miyata’s withdrawal will be a significant setback for Japan at this year’s games. Not much else is currently known about how Japan will fill Shoko’s role.