At a time when sports fans in Japan are usually united in support of the nation's athletes, one issue is proving divisive: Shoko Miyata's withdrawal from the Paris Olympics.
On one side are the people who think the 19-year-old captain of Japan’s women’s artistic gymnastics team deserves to miss out on what would have been her Olympic debut for drinking and smoking, and on the other are people who think essentially forcing her to quit the Games for a Japan Gymnastics Association (JGA) code violation doesn’t fit the “crime.”
The legal smoking and drinking age in Japan is 20 and the JGA’s code of conduct prohibits gymnasts from doing either during team activities, regardless of age. Its rules for smoking began in 2016, with gradual implementation. Drinking is allowed for those over 20 in certain circumstances with approval from the coach, such as during wrap parties held after a training camp or a tournament.