The star of Japan’s women’s artistic gymnastics team has been sent home from the final training camp ahead of the Paris Olympic Games for smoking.

Shoko Miyata, the 19-year-old captain of the team, was missing from training on Wednesday, although Japanese Olympic officials would only confirm to reporters that she was absent “for certain reasons”.

According to Japanese media reports, Ms Miyata has left the team’s training base in Monaco after being seen smoking, in violation of the team’s code of conduct. Under Japanese law, it is illegal for anyone under the age of 20 to smoke.

The Japan Gymnastics Association has announced it will hold a formal investigation in conjunction with Juntendo University, in Tokyo, where she is a student.

Her departure casts a shadow over the team’s chances of winning a medal at the Games, which opens in the French capital on Friday. The last time Japan’s women won a team medal for gymnastics was when Tokyo hosted the Olympics in 1964.

Despite only being 19, Ms Miyata was the oldest and most experienced member of a five-strong team that has undergone a complete overhaul since the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where the women’s team ended in a disappointing fifth place.

Speaking to reporters in Tokyo before leaving for the training camp in Monaco, Ms Miyata said: “I want my performance to show the heart of Japan. Not making mistakes is the path to a medal.”

News that Ms Miyata was being dismissed from the team has triggered a debate in Japan, where the law was changed in 2022 to lower the age of adulthood from 20 to 18, although smoking and drinking alcohol are still illegal until the age of 20.

Some on social media have pointed out that Ms Miyata had violated the team’s code of conduct and broken the law so her expulsion was unavoidable. Others, however, have suggested her lapse of judgment was unfortunate, given that athletes get so few opportunities to compete at the very top of their sport.

The reigning Japanese champion, Ms Miyata won bronze on the beam in the 2022 World Championships in Liverpool and came fifth overall. In the same year, she took the silver in the vault and floor exercise at the Asian Championships in Doha.