Szombathely Challenge Cup might become the first international artistic gymnastics competition after a long break. While the rest of the World Challenge Cups were canceled, Szombathely stayed in the FIG schedule. It is currently schedule for October 1-5 and a list of participants was published today. The list is understandably small, with only 18 countries represented (including Hungary). Understandably, most of the participants are from European countries as traveling between continents might be quite challenging nowadays. The list has some big names like Artem Dolgopyat and Igor Radivilov and the MAG roster is, as it’s common for Challenge Cups, has many more participants than WAG.
The newly published FIG coronavirus guidelines might serve as a deterrent – the FIG basically refuses to take any responsibility or help in any way if a participant becomes infected with COVID-19 at their event.
FIG's official COVID policy: "SUCKZZZ TO BE YOU I GUESSSSSS" pic.twitter.com/NsXV1t93dh
— BalanceBeamSituation (@TheBBSituation) August 30, 2020
Arriving in Hungary also might be a challenge since Hungary closed their borders for foreign nationals starting September 1st. Athletes can receive permission to entry to participate in sports events, however, many flights to Hungary will be canceled due to the border closure. Technically, the official airport for the competition is Vienna airport. However, nationals of certain countries might be banned from entering Austria right now and it’s not clear if the Austrian authorities will allow entry for athletes traveling to Hungary. For example, Israel and Kazakhstan, both on the list for Szombathely, are not among the countries whose citizens are allowed to enter Austria.
