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Ski and snowboard championships at WinSport have been cancelled

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The bubble burst before it began.

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The proposed Calgary host of 2021 ski, free-ski and snowboard world championships next month is no longer in play.

With health and safety deemed a top priority, the international governing body for skiing and snowboarding, in consultation with Freestyle Canada and Canada Snowboard, has decided not to continue with plans to house multiple showcase events, which were in the works for Feb. 24-March 14 at WinSport.

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“Over the past few weeks, our teams have had extensive meetings with all of our key stakeholders including FIS, along with our generous corporate and government partners at all levels,” said Freestyle Canada chief executive officer Peter Judge. “At the end of the day, after reviewing all facets of the event, we simply ran out of runway to make these World Championships a reality.”

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Indeed, the decision was made after weighing the challenges associated with international travel and continued border closures, ongoing uncertainty, along with potential health risks around hosting an event of this magnitude while the coronavirus pandemic continues to run its course globally.

“While we are gutted, the safety and health of our athletes, coaches, volunteers and staff is, and always will be, our top priority,” Judge said. “COVID-19 continues to evolve globally, and we believe this decision is in the best interest of our broader sport community at this time.”

Freestyle Canada and Canada Snowboard planned to host the month-long series of international ski and snowboard competitions in a bubble concept at WinSport’s Canada Olympic Park.
Included were to be moguls, aerial, slopestyle, halfpipe and big air events.

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But while awaiting the necessary approval from the city, the province and the feds, the FIS and the two national sports bodies opted to cancel the entire bubble.

“We are grateful to the tremendous amount of preparation and work that has been invested by all of our partners, along with our staff and volunteers at both Canada Snowboard and Freestyle Canada, to bring the world’s best freestyle ski and snowboard athletes to Calgary,” said Canada Snowboard executive director Dustin Heise. “We were endeavouring to give our fans watching at home a much-needed respite from the current climate. But at this point — and as the situation continues to rapidly change — the right thing to do for our athletes and broader community, is to pause.

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“While this is disappointing, we will now turn our focus to applying that work to bringing the world back to Canada next season in an effort to help our athletes fully prepare for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.”

With the bubble now off the table, the plan now is to bring a series of world cup ski and snowboard events to WinSport next December.
WinSport successfully hosted the 2020 Snow Rodeo last February.

“Major events like the Snow Rodeo have significant impact on the local economy,” said Tourism Calgary senior vice-president of sales Carson Ackroyd. “While we are disappointed that this event at this time could not move forward, we remain committed to working with Freestyle Canada and Canada Snowboard to bring other events to the city this year and continue our efforts to attract safe events that can support the recovery of the Calgary economy.”

tsaelhof@postmedia.com

http://www.twitter.com/ToddSaelhofPM

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