The World Figure Skating Championships, set to take place in Japan between 21 and 27 March, have been postponed following the earthquake and tsunami.
After large parts of the country were devastated on Friday, the International Skating Union said it was not possible to host the seven-day event. Britain had been set to send an eight-strong team to Tokyo. Keith Horton of the National Ice Skating Association said: "It would not have been appropriate to compete." The Nisa chief executive told BBC Sport: "Our sympathies go out to all those caught up in the devastation.
"The ISU's decision did not come as a surprise as the tragedy unfolded. It would not have been appropriate to have staged the championships when so many people have lost their lives." Scottish duo dance to bronze in Bern Britain's team included ice dance pair John and Sinead Kerr, the current European Championships bronze medallists and a medal hope at the World Championships. They would have been joined in ice dance by Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland, with Stacey Kemp and David King due to compete in the pairs and David Richardson and Jenna McCorkell in the individual competition.
The team were set to fly out to Japan on Friday but will remain at their training bases, which are in Nottingham, Belgium, Poland and the United States. It has still to be decided whether the event should be cancelled, or just postponed. An ISU spokesman said: "Our first concern has to be the security of the athletes, the spectators and everyone else involved." However Horton doubted whether the championships would be staged this year. "The championships are the culmination of the season and the skaters normally have a break afterwards before resuming their programme for next season so there isn't much of a window before a postponement would start impacting on next season's preparations. "To move to another venue at short notice, say Vancouver in Canada where the 2010 Winter Olympics were held, is logistically difficult because they are upwards of 300 athletes, plus entourage, plus volunteers, television and media. "So we'll have to wait and see if the championships do go ahead this year.
All our skaters will remain at the training camps and be competition ready in case but I am doubtful." It is the first time in 50 years the World Figure Skating Championships have been called off. The 1961 championships in Prague were called off after an American delegation was killed when their plane crashed on landing in Brussels. As well as the figure skating championships April's new international team event in Yokohama has also been called off.