Olympic Athlete Sent Home After Being Caught Smoking and Drinking

The teenage athlete is not of legal drinking age.

A Team Japan gymnast has been sent home from the 2024 Olympic competition due to violating the team’s ban on drinking and smoking.

According to the BBC, 19-year-old Shoko Miyata, the captain of her women’s artistic gymnastics team, was found to be in violation of the Japan Gymnastics Association's rules, which forbid smoking of any sort. Miyata is also under Japan’s legal drinking age of 20. She departed her team’s training camp in Monaco on Thursday night and returned home to Japan after the investigation into her conduct concluded.

"With her confirmation, and after discussions on all sides, it has been decided that she will withdraw from the Olympics," the association’s secretary general, Kenji Nishimura, told reporters at a press conference in Tokyo.

According to Miyata’s coach, Matsumi Harada, the teenager was struggling with the “burden” of supporting her country and leading a team of Olympic first-timers at the Paris Games. "She was spending her days really burdened with so much pressure. I would implore people to understand that," Harada said.

Miyata is one of Japan’s most prominent gymnasts. She received a bronze medal on the balance beam at the 2022 World Championships in Liverpool. In April of this year, Miyata won her first gold medal at Japan’s national championships, following two consecutive years of winning silver.

Japan’s female gymnastics team has not been awarded a medal since 1964. The country is hoping to change that this year, though it will certainly be more difficult without Miyata’s involvement.

The 2024 Summer Olympics will be broadcast live from Paris from July 26th to August 11th on NBC.