Tokyo Olympics Test Event Cancelled

A Tokyo Olympics water polo test event has been cancelled because sport officials cannot enter Japan due to coronavirus restrictions, reports said Tuesday.

The event is only the latest victim of virus restrictions, which have forced the cancellation or postponement of a series of Olympic qualifiers and tests.

The two-day water polo event was supposed to open on Saturday, but has been scrapped because of Japan’s strict travel regulations, which bar virtually all foreign nationals from entering the country, local media reported.

The restrictions mean time-keepers and record-keepers who were due to travel to Japan cannot take part in the event, although Kyodo news agency said it may be rescheduled to a later date.

Test events for the virus-delayed Games resumed last weekend for the first time since the pandemic began, with a wheelchair rugby event held at Tokyo’s Yoyogi National Stadium.

But there are doubts over whether the remaining 17 test events can be held as scheduled.

Those events include the Diving World Cup scheduled for this month and the Artistic Swimming qualifier scheduled for May.

FINA’s competition calendar already lists both events, along with the May 29-30 Olympic marathon swim qualifier in Japan’s Fukuoka, as cancelled.