London: The top British gymnasts will skip the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi but the media here is not sure whether it was the fear of 'Delhi Belly' or the scheduling of the event that prompted such reaction from the sports administrators.
'The Daily Telegraph' reported it was the fear of 'Delhi Belly' which forced British gymnasts Beth Tweddle, Louis Smith and Daniel Keatings to skip Commonwealth Games, which is still a good 10 months away.
"It's not just the travel and jet lag but the potential for tummy bugs and diarrhoea that exists in making the trip. We just cannot afford to take the risk when so much is at stake," Eddie van Hoof, British Gymnastics' performance director, was quoted as saying by the daily.
'The Daily Mail' said UK would field a second string squad since British Gymnastics and its funding agent UK Sport, consider the World Championships in Rotterdam much more important than the Delhi Games.
The Commonwealth Games is scheduled from October 3 to 14, while the Gymnastics World Championships begins October 17.
The Rotterdam event also assumes importance since it would double up as a qualifying event for the 2012 London Olympics, the report said.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, December 10, 2009, 22:11