Japanese Olympic Gymnast Shoko Miyata Sent Home for Smoking

The team captain will no longer compete after an investigation found that she had been smoking and drinking.

Shoko Miyata, the captain of Japan’s artistic gymnastics team, was sent home earlier this week for smoking and drinking. A report in The Guardian stated that the 19-year-old withdrew from the Japanese Olympic team after it was determined she had violated the team’s code of conduct. Miyata’s withdrawal comes just a week before the Olympics are set to begin in Paris.

“We apologize from the bottom of our hearts for this,” said Tadashi Fujita, president of the Japanese Gymnastics Association. Miyata is the reigning Japanese champion, and at the 2022 World Championships, she took home the bronze medal on the balance beam. Mutsumi Harada, Miyata’s coach, was understandably upset about the situation.

“She was spending her days really burdened with so much pressure. I implore people to understand that,” Harada told the press on Friday. According to The Guardian, he was wiping away tears while giving his statement.

Poor Shoko! It’s not like she was using performance-enhancing drugs. If anything, a hangover probably makes you worse on the beam. I do feel that some blame must be put on Team Japan. You sent a stressed-out 19-year-old perfectionist to Europe — of course she was going to start smoking.

In happier gymnastics news, Team USA is en route to Paris. The whole squad, including Simone Biles, shared some version of a “Going ✈️Paris ????????” Instagram story. Suni Lee shared a photo, thankfully captured for posterity by People, of the whole team wearing comically large hats. You really have to click through to see how big the hats are. You are probably not imagining a big enough hat.

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