USA Gymnastics postpones 2020 national championships at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth
Another event at Dickies Arena has been postponed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
USA Gymnastics announced Tuesday that it will not hold certain premier events in 2020, including next month’s U.S. Gymnastics Championships that were supposed to be held June 4-7 at Dickies Arena. Instead, that event will take place June 3-6, 2021 at Dickies Arena.
“In light of recent guidance from health experts, and after receiving feedback from our athletes and coaches, we believe it is in the best interest of our community to wait until 2021 to hold premier events,” USA Gymnastics CEO Li Li Leung said in a statement.
USA Gymnastics said its athletes didn’t have the proper strength and training amid the stay-at-home orders and other restrictions across the country during the pandemic.
“Gymnastics is a physically demanding sport that requires a great deal of strength and training to safely compete at the highest levels and stay-at-home orders and other restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic have severely affected most gymnasts’ ability to train,” the organization said. “Part of our decision to postpone our scheduled 2020 premier events until next year was to help ensure that competing athletes have the necessary time in the gym to regain their form.”
The national championships feature days for both junior and senior men’s and women’s competition. The headliner for this year’s event would have been Simone Biles, the four-time Olympic gold medalist who is regarded as the greatest gymnast of all time.
The event will now take place less than two months before the Tokyo Games (which were pushed back from 2020 to 2021).
Event organizers said tickets already purchased for the 2020 event will be valid for the new event date. Ticket holders will also have the option to request a refund. More information on the 2021 event, ticketing and refunds will be communicated directly to ticket holders in the coming weeks.
Dickies Arena update
With the gymnastics championships officially postponed, the next Dickies Arena event that has yet to be postponed is Steely Dan with Steve Winwood on June 13. The event scheduled the next day, The Dude Perfect 2020 Tour, has been postponed.
An arena spokesperson said they “work with the promoters on each individual event, and ultimately they have been making those calls on whether to postpone, reschedule or cancel.”
Upcoming events at Dickies that have not been postponed:
June 13: Steely Dan with Steve Winwood
June 17: Daryl Hall & John Oates
June 27: Monsta X
July 18: Rascal Flatts
July 31: WWE Friday Night Smackdown
Aug. 1: Impractical Jokers
This story was originally published May 12, 2020 at 4:32 PM.
