Russians to skip World Cup event in U.S. because of coronavirus

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's national gymnastics team will not take part in a World Cup event in the United States next month because of the rising number of cases of coronavirus internationally, all-around world champion Nikita Nagornyy said on Friday.

A string of sporting events have been cancelled or postponed because of coronavirus outbreaks in a number of countries, and some athletes have taken precautionary measures to avoid contracting it.

"Given the aggravation of the coronavirus (situation) around the world, the Russian national gymnastics teams will not take part in the World Cup event in the United States..." Nagornyy wrote in an Instagram post, accompanied with a sad face emoji.

Two Russians - Nagornyy and Lilia Akhaimova, a silver medallist at last year's world championships in the team event -- had been scheduled to compete at the American Cup, an individual all-around World Cup event taking place on March 7 in Milwaukee.

(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Toby Davis)