Federer to Mo Farah, six biggest stars to miss Tokyo Games
Tokyo 2020 Olympics: The Summer Games will witness a diminished set of global stars as several celebrated names will be absent at the marquee event due to various concerns.
Kylian Mbappe: Mbappe missed out on his maiden Olympics Games appearance after his club, PSG, refused to release its star player for the France squad. Among the other superstars who were withdrawn from their respective squads are Neymar and Mo Salah. - GETTY IMAGES ▲
Roger Federer: Swiss maestro Roger Federer announced his decision to skip the Tokyo Olympics, days after being inducted into the Swiss squad. Federer who suffered a shock defeat in the Wimbledon quarterfinal said: "During the grass season, I unfortunately experienced a setback with my knee, and have accepted that I must withdraw from the Tokyo Olympic Games." Rafael Nadal, Nick Kyrgios, Serena Williams, Dominic Thiem, Stan Wawrinka and Simona Halep are some of the other prominent tennis stars skipping the Olympics. - AP ▲
Mo Farah: Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah will not return to defend his 5000 and 10,000m crowns after failing to clock the required qualification time in the event. - REUTERS ▲
Caster Semenya: Double Olympic gold winner in 800m Caster Semenya could not qualify for the Games after being barred from the event by World Athletics due to high testosterone levels. Semenya’s last-ditch effort to Tokyo through the 5000m event (unaffected by hormone regulations) also went in vain as she fell short of the qualification mark. - AP ▲
Sun Yang: Defending 200m freestyle Olympic champion Sun will not make an appearance at the Games after receiving a four year and three-month ban after failing to comply with anti-doping rules. - AP ▲
Dustin Johnson: World No. 1 golfer Dustin Johnson decided to skip one of four USA spots for the Olympics after going through a long haul of tournaments. Johnson said: "It's right in the middle of a big stretch of golf for me. A lot of travelling at a time where it's important for me to feel like I'm focused on playing the PGA Tour." - GETTY IMAGES ▲
