![Tang Xijing of China, 49th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships [CGTN]](https://i0.wp.com/usachinatrading.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Tang-Xijing-of-China-during-balance-beam-for-women-at-the-49th-FIG-Artistic-Gymnastics-World-Championships-CGTN.jpg?resize=525%2C296&ssl=1)
Chinese national gymnastics team receives two additional Olympic spots for Tokyo as the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) canceled the all-around World Cup series on Wednesday. The four-meet World Cup, which is also part of Tokyo’s Olympic qualification system, was supposed to happen in March and April 2020 in Milwaukee, Stuttgart, Birmingham and Tokyo.
The competition in Milwaukee already ended, but the other three were postponed until this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as European countries are coming up with stricter policies against the coronavirus, such as enhanced entry bans, it’s growing harder for the World Cup to take place. Last week, the Stuttgart meet was called off, followed by the one in Birmingham. According to the qualification system rules for the Tokyo Olympics, it takes at least three World Cup series meets to validate the results as a qualifier. Now that the competitions are canceled, the unused Olympic berth will go to the top 3 teams in the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart in 2019.
China, Russia, and Japan will receive women’s spots while men’s spots are given to the U.S., China, and Russia. After that, 82 places out of 98 for men and 84 out of 98 for women in artistic gymnastics have been allocated. The rest will be put on the plates in front of participants in the coming continental championships and apparatus World Cup series in Doha between March 10 and 13. More China News:
Figure Skating: Champion duo Sui and Han to make stunning comeback at world championships