It took the decision of the Ministry of Sports to make the Russian Gymnastics Federation postpone the nationals. The WAG Russian Championships were slated to start this week in Penza and some of the athletes have already arrived. However, yesterday, the Russian Ministry of Sports asked federations not to hold national competitions unless they are qualifiers for the Olympics Games. In addition, all international competitions to take place in Russia were canceled until further notice.
New dates for the Russian Championships have not been announced yet but a blog associated with one of the club teams suggested that the new dates will be some time in October. No news yet regarding the MAG Russian Championships that were to take place in April but they are likely to be postponed as well. Both competitions were supposed to serve as selection competitions for the respective European Championships. However, at the moment, it is not clear if the European Championships will still take place. France canceled all gymnastics competitions in the coming month and the decision regarding the WAG European Championships is expected to be made this week. Azerbaijan’s government declared the state of emergency and canceled all mass gatherings. The MAG European Championships are supposed to take place at the end of May and, potentially, the situation may still change for the better and allow holding an international competitions but it is not extremely likely.
