The British Gymnastics Federation has announced they will not send senior or junior MAG and WAG teams to the upcoming 2020 European Championships in Baku. The decision was made after the European Gymnastics Federation had announced that the championship will not be an Olympic qualifier anymore.
British Gymnastics Performance Director James Thomas said:
“It is of course always disappointing to withdraw from such a prestigious competition, one that many of our junior and senior gymnasts have looked forward too. However from consulting with our medical and wider support team it has become clear that the consensus in-light of the continued concerns around COVID 19 is that to best protect the health and well-being of all involved and their families, we should withdraw from the championships. We also acknowledge that amongst the gymnasts there has been a mixed appetite to compete and travel given the shared concerns around COVID. Our gymnasts will continue to train in their club environments and at our National Sports Centre developing their performance with ambitions towards competing across a full 2021 event campaign.”
Britain is one of the top teams at the European Championships. Ellie Downie was the all-around champion in 2017 and won silver in 2019 and Alice Kinsella is the reigning beam champion. British men won team silver in 2018, when women finished fourth and this year, both teams would have been among main medal contenders.
At the moment, it is not clear whether the championships will take place at all, as the final decision was delayed. In addition to concerns about rises in COVID-19 rates all over Europe, the armed conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia has not subsided and has the potential to escalate even further.
Earlier, Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics also decided to skip the RG Euros in Kiev due to the concerns about the epidemiological situation and travel difficulties (there is currently no direct flights between Russia and Ukraine due to the ongoing conflict).
