[News] Kim Yu-na figure skating championships in Tokyo to be postponed.

[News] Kim Yu-na figure skating championships in Tokyo to be postponed.
Cr. - http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/

The 2011 World Figure Skating Championships, scheduled for March 21-27 in Tokyo, will be postponed following the massive earthquake in Japan last week, a news report claimed Monday.

Organized by the International Skating Union (ISU), the world championships were to be held at Yoyogi Stadium in Tokyo. But citing an anonymous source, Kyodo News in Japan reported that the event will be put off because Japan is still dealing with the aftermath of the 9.0-magnitude quake that has claimed thousands of lives. The country is also faced with nuclear crisis after explosions at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, about 240 kilometers north of Tokyo.

Kyodo News said the ISU was expected to make an official announcement later Monday. The governing body of figure skating said on Sunday that ongoing developments in Japan were "very worrisome" and that it would monitor the situation along with the Japan Skating Federation (JSF).

On Friday, hours after the quake hit Japan, the ISU had said the JSF had claimed the situation in Tokyo was "settled" and that Yoyogi Stadium was "suitable" for the championships. The Japanese capital, however, has since been hit with aftershocks and Germany has said it would not send its skaters to Tokyo for the championships even if the event were held as planned, after the German government advised its citizens not to travel to Japan.

The world figure championships have been canceled once before in 1961, when a plane carrying the U.S. skating team crashed on its way to Prague and killed all the skaters.

The postponement would also throw off the spring schedule for South Korean figure star Kim Yu-na, who would have made her first competitive appearance in about a year.
Kim, the reigning Olympic gold medalist and the 2009 world champion, hasn't competed since last year's worlds, where she finished second to Mao Asada of Japan. After parting with coach Brian Orser in August, Kim teamed up with Peter Oppegard and has set her short program to the ballet "Giselle" and her free skating routine to a compilation of traditional Korean music called "Homage to Korea."

After worlds, Kim had been scheduled to join the 2018 Winter Olympics bidding committee for PyeongChang, a South Korean alpine town, in her capacity as an honorary ambassador.

PyeongChang is scheduled to give presentations on the international stage through April and May, including the official bid city briefing at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland from May 18-19.

PyeongChang is up against Munich, Germany, and Annecy, France, and the host city will be decided at the IOC General Assembly on July 6 in Durban, South Africa.

Kim also announced last week that she would have an ice show in Seoul from May 6-8. Kim has yet to make any scheduling changes. All That Sports, her Seoul-based agency, said it will adjust the skater's schedule according to the ISU's official announcement.