TOKYO (Reuters) – The Japan Skating Federation (JSF) mentioned on Thursday that determine skating’s Grand Prix closing, one of many key occasions main into the Winter Olympics, has been cancelled after the nation closed its borders to non-Japanese guests.
Japan took a number of the strictest steps globally by closing its borders to new international entrants for a couple of month in mild of the emergence of the brand new coronavirus variant, Omicron.
The Grand Prix closing, which was scheduled for the western metropolis of Osaka from Dec. 9-12, is seen as a key step on the street to the Winter Olympics, set for Feb. 4-20 in Beijing.
“In mild of the federal government suspending the admission of non-Japanese guests as introduced on Nov. 29, we’re having to cancel,” the JSF mentioned in an announcement.
People Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou and Jason Brown, and Russia’s Mikhail Kolyada had been all on the roster for the boys’s occasion, together with Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama and Shoma Uno.
The ladies’s singles had been set to be contested by Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto and 5 Russian skaters.
(Reporting by Elaine Lies; Enhancing by Peter Rutherford)
