Whistler Olympic Park’s first big test event before the 2023 Nordic Junior/U23 World Ski Championships is off.
On Monday, Nordiq Canada announced that because of COVID-19, all FIS-sanctioned domestic events scheduled for the 2020-21 season are cancelled, including the Canadian World Championships Trials that were scheduled to come to Whistler Olympic Park in January.
“We realize high-performance athletes live and breathe to race and do not want to be left behind [by] their competition. These decisions are not easy, and we do not take them lightly. The domestic calendar decision was made after consultations with key stakeholders and assessment of the current sport-related restrictions that are in place across the country, along with the requirements for hosting such large participation events safely,” Nordiq Canada high-performance director Kate Boyd said in a release.
Local races that abide by regional health and safety guidelines are still on the table.
The organization still hopes to have a presence at some international World Cup races as well as at World Championships, though, without trials, it is still determining the criteria that will be used to decide which athletes will qualify for World Championships.
More to come.
