Japan Earthquake
IDSF Communications was finally able to get a hold of the organisers of the Tokyo Grand Slam that is scheduled for Sunday, 13 March. Chieko Abe - on behalf of the Japan DanceSport Federation (JDSF) - communicated with Heidi Goetz by e-mail.
Please be advised that the Grand Slam leg here in Tokyo has been cancelled due to earthquake. The Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium considers it unsafe to run the competition on Sunday and decided to cancel it. We, JDSF, have to accept the decision. Sorry for what has happened, and kindly understand the situation.
Chieko Abe
After countless tries, we have also been able to speak by phone with Lukas Hinder, the IDSF First Vice-President, who was at the Tokyo Hyatt Regency during the quake. Lukas reports all athletes and officials to be safe and sound, but still digesting the magnitude of what has happened over the past ten hours.
Vice-President Hinder confirms that the entire Grand Slam (GS) contingent at the Tokyo Hyatt was temporarily evacuated from the rooms and brought to open space. Hinder is also aware of a number of GS participants who are currently at different airports around Japan. Most of them wil fly back to their countries from there.
The IDSF Adjudicators' Congress, which is scheduled for tomorrow, will be held at a location still to be determined, after the Metropolitan Gymnasium needs to be surveyed for safety before it can be reopened.
"They say it was the strongest earthquake in 100 years. I saw the high-rises sway from the street and cracks in some of the walls as I was allowed back into the hotel. However, as we speak, construction workers are fixing them already."
Lukas Hinder
Our thoughts are with the people in Japan and the other parts of the world, where the tsunami could still cause more devastation.
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