TOKYO, May 23 (Reuters) - Tokyo will hold the artistic gymnastics world championships in October as planned despite a lingering nuclear crisis overshadowing Japan's recovery from the ruinous March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
"The decision to maintain the Tokyo venue is founded on an evaluation of the current situation conducted by competent professionals in the field, and their subsequent conclusions," the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) said in a release on their website (www.fig-gymnastics.com) following a meeting in San Jose, California.
The earthquake and tsunami left 28,000 people dead and sparked a partial meltdown at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, about 240 km northeast of Tokyo, causing radiation leaks and fanning fears of widespread contamination.
Engineers are still battling to control the crisis, branded the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, and which the plant's operator hopes to resolve by January.
Russia, who hosted the world figure skating championships last month after Tokyo abandoned its plans to stage the event, offered to host the Oct. 7-16 gymnastics meeting, saying most European countries were unwilling to send teams to Japan out of health fears. [ID:nLDE74A1R1]
But a senior Japanese gymnastics official dismissed the Russian calls as scare-mongering in an interview with Reuters, saying Tokyo was "completely safe" for athletes. [ID:nL3E7GE02Y]
Japanese Gymnastics Association president Hidenori Futagi hailed the FIG's decision as "... a moving gesture of solidarity and encouragement for the Japanese people as a whole; a decision worthy of the international gymnastics family."
The disasters and ongoing nuclear crisis have thrown Japan's sporting calendar into chaos, forcing the professional baseball and soccer leagues to re-arrange their schedules and the scrapping of international golf and ice hockey events.
The International Triathlon Union also rescheduled Yokohama's round of the World Championship series to September from May.
"The decision to maintain the Tokyo venue is founded on an evaluation of the current situation conducted by competent professionals in the field, and their subsequent conclusions," the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) said in a release on their website (www.fig-gymnastics.com) following a meeting in San Jose, California.
The earthquake and tsunami left 28,000 people dead and sparked a partial meltdown at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, about 240 km northeast of Tokyo, causing radiation leaks and fanning fears of widespread contamination.
Engineers are still battling to control the crisis, branded the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, and which the plant's operator hopes to resolve by January.
Russia, who hosted the world figure skating championships last month after Tokyo abandoned its plans to stage the event, offered to host the Oct. 7-16 gymnastics meeting, saying most European countries were unwilling to send teams to Japan out of health fears. [ID:nLDE74A1R1]
But a senior Japanese gymnastics official dismissed the Russian calls as scare-mongering in an interview with Reuters, saying Tokyo was "completely safe" for athletes. [ID:nL3E7GE02Y]
Japanese Gymnastics Association president Hidenori Futagi hailed the FIG's decision as "... a moving gesture of solidarity and encouragement for the Japanese people as a whole; a decision worthy of the international gymnastics family."
The disasters and ongoing nuclear crisis have thrown Japan's sporting calendar into chaos, forcing the professional baseball and soccer leagues to re-arrange their schedules and the scrapping of international golf and ice hockey events.
The International Triathlon Union also rescheduled Yokohama's round of the World Championship series to September from May.
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