THE chances for BMX champion Daniel Caluag and BMX star Arianna Dormitorio of qualifying for Tokyo 2020 turned dim after the International Cycling Union (UCI) sought for a retroactive cutoff for Olympic qualification.
The UCI, in a statement on Tuesday, said it would ask the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) that Tokyo 2020 qualification in mountain bike, BMX racing and BMX and Para cycling road be retroactively stopped as of March 3.
The UCI request was prompted by the coronavirus pandemic that forced the cancellation or postponement of all of the federation’s events—specifically Olympic qualifying races.
That means all athletes who are in a qualification spot would be automatically awarded a Tokyo 2020 berth, providing the IOC and the IPC agree to the request.
Caluag, the 2014 Asian Games gold medalist and silver medalist in the 30th Southeast Asian Games, was supposed to compete in the Asian BMX Championships in Jakarta next month but these were postponed for November.
Another potential chance for Caluag, the world championships in Houston in May, were also canceled.
Dormitorio also needs to race in regional qualifiers, all of which were canceled by the organizers and the UCI.
The UCI said it had made the decision “to preserve sporting equity for the athletes” and claimed continuing with the process in the four disciplines would result in “unfairness between nations.”
The UCI added that between 70 percent and 85 percent of the qualifying events in cycling had already been completed.
Tokyo 2020 qualification is also finished in road, track and para-cycling track.
“The international situation linked to the coronavirus has accelerated sharply recently, especially in Europe, which has pushed the authorities to take drastic measures that have a major impact on our sport in particular,” UCI President David Lappartient said.
“Faced with this unprecedented and changing situation, we must adapt and take necessary measures to guarantee, as far as possible, the security of people at our events, as well as sporting equity,” he added. With insidethegames